


Merlin - a friendship and enemyship review

by AndreKl



Series: Merlin - all our favorite idiots [2]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-23
Updated: 2019-06-19
Packaged: 2020-01-24 14:14:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 38,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18573145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AndreKl/pseuds/AndreKl
Summary: Sequel to "Merlin – a character review". It will be about several kinds of pairs: villains, lovers, partners, friends etc. It is not absolutely necessary to read the previous fic, but it will be helpful. I will ask a lot of annoying, wicked and funny questions, which will be the basic for some crazy, critical and strange speculations and discussions.





	1. Gaius and Merlin – an almost perfect teacher-pupil relationship

Gaius and Merlin are a strange pair in many different ways. Yes okay, they truly love and care for each other. There is no doubt that they are willing to give their lives for each other. You could almost assume to talk about the perfect pair off teacher and pupil. But there are also some things that are a little strange about them, aren't they? Here are some questions and speculations that swirl in my head:

 

**Which side are they actually on?**

Well, the most obvious answer would be on Camelot's side. That might sound too simple and a little bit ridiculous but it is definitely true. But a second and more critical look makes everything more complex and strange. For instance both Merlin and Gaius claim as their main aim peace between magic and non-magic people, magic back in Camelot, blah-blah - the typical Emrys and prophecy stuff. Shouldn't be that hard, should it? I mean who would be in a better position as someone who is the king's most trusted friends and advisor. Well a pair of advisors and friends would be better. But no, that is not what I meant. We have a pair of advisors and friends, who is close to several kings and queens: Uther, Arthur, Morgana (for some time) and Gwen. The entire Pendragon-dynasty trust/trusted them. It should be also noticed that Gaius was on Uther's side all of the time. I guess they have been friends since childhood. It should be a chinch to fulfill the prophecy under such perfect conditions. But what is about the results? Where are the successes to celebrate: the peace treaties, the declarations about lifting the ban against magic?

You don't know one thing? You have problems to answer this question? Don't worry, I feel the same. Okay let's try something easier. Maybe our anticipations were a little overdrawn. What did our perfect pair to achieve peace (I talk about true peace; not this `out of sight, out of mind´-stuff of Arthur) and magic? Which attempts did Merlin and Gaius do?

Still question marks? Come on guys, we are talking about two of the most influential persons and powerful sorcerers (one is the omnipotent Emrys) after all! We must find something positive. That is really really sad. Okay, just for the sake of completeness: “What did they do against the fulfillment of the destiny?” Well, Gaius supported Camelot's regime all of the time and used his knowledge about all the `evil magic dangers and threads´. Merlin and Gaius wasted several chances to help Arthur to fulfill his alleged destiny as legendary king. Moreover, they did the opposite thing quite often:

  * They supported and repeated the lie about Arthur's birth and the reason for the war. It was never canceled even many years after Uther´s death.
  * They stayed silent during several crimes and massacres against magic people and did nothing for peace and magic during several years without any attacks (e.g. between season 4 and 5).
  * Merlin statement that magic must be never allowed in Camelot
  * Etc. etc.



Okay yes, I guess we can cancel the idea of love, peace and harmony. But that makes the question even more important. What the hell did they have in mind? I dare to say that Merlin did not have a plan at all. It's quite probable that the ultimate hero thought that a prophecy is something which happens automatically and Arthur would get it at some point (at some unknown point in time). In this case it would be enough to keep Arthur alive. Just one question: How long is this `unknown point in time´ actually? Let me ask this more precisely: How many people have to suffer and die before the perfect king becomes wise, fair and legendary? This might have been a little mean, but some questions are too obvious to avoid them. Granted, even hardcore fans of Merlin would admit that the hero is hardly Einstein. (What was this about the almighty all-knowing Emrys?) But that is the reason why we have a pair of advisors and sorcerers to save the day. Hey, Gaius is your excuse? It is your job to guide and help our young hero. That is what mentors are made for.

Next try. This is the third sub-question. We have to find a good answer: “What did Gaius do to help Merlin and Arthur to fulfill their destiny?” Damn! I can only think of examples proving the opposite once again:

  * Gaius trained Merlin to stay silent all the time to avoid any attention
  * Gaius defended Uther quite often and said he is a good king; he did even justify the Purge in some ways, because of some alleged anarchy and chaos
  * Gaius did always refer to Kilgharrah



Stop! Do I understand this correctly? Are we talking about the same last dragon, which witnessed the extinction of his race by Camelot and was imprisoned for decades? The same dragon which is full of hatred and hunger for revenge (for good reasons)? Bye the way it is also the same dragon, which burned down Camelot and tried to kill the Once and Future King. Does this feel somehow strange and questionable for anyone? I have the bad feeling that we touched a point, which was neglected in the show. Is it to secure the beauty and simplicity of the good-and-evil-story?

Okay this was not really satisfying, wasn't it? I guess we failed with our search for the actual loyalties and intentions of our pair. But you could also say we did answer the question by all these speculations, questions and doubts. However let's go to another question.

 

**What are the wishes of our pair for each other?**

I guess we all agree that Gaius takes the position of Merlin's father figure and mentor. The question is what does the surrogate father want for his son? I dare to say it is Gaius's wish that Merlin takes his position as the king's friend and advisor at some point of time. In other words Merlin shall follow his surrogate father's/mentor's way. It is obvious that successor and predecessor should handle things in the same way. The operative word here is “in the same way”. That means Merlin should have Gaius's moral values and pattern of thinking. That brings us to a point where we stumble upon another contradiction. If you recall the show of Merlin (especially the first seasons) you cannot avoid the impression that Gaius's work in Camelot is motivated by other things than pure fear for his life. I cannot bring myself to agree with some people, who say that Gaius is just a forced/slave laborer in Camelot's/Uther's war against magic. There are several coincidences where he is too eager to fight the “evil” and “renegade sorcerers” (citation Gaius).

So what is Gaius's true attitude to magic and why is he thinking this way? This question may sound mean and sneaky, but it is a very crucial one. Gaius is Merlin's mentor after all and it is absolutely normal for a pupil to adopt the ideas of his mentor. I have already described my personal opinion about Camelot's (in Arthur's reign) / Gaius's logic about magic people in “Merlin – a character review”:

`Good sorcerers are those, who get slaughtered without any resistance (e.g. the druids); evil sorcerers fight for their freedom and survival and must be killed for the sake of Camelot.´ You can also say it in less drastic words: `Magic yes, but don't use it!´

But why would the `nice doctor Gaius´ thinking this way? Well, I would go so far as to say that Gaius is more similar to Uther than he wants to admit. But hey, this is no problem as long as his pupil is destined to save the world. The underlying logic is quite simple and obvious: ` It does not matter what Gaius (might) have done wrong in the past if he helps Merlin to fulfill the prophecy.´ Hey who would dare to question destinies and prophecies, especially if you are on the winning side at the end. I want to be a hero, too! Oh yes, the world can be so beautiful and perfect with prophecies. There is also the advantage that you have so much more free time if you don't waste your time with thinking and making own decisions. Okay, that was enough daydreaming. Let's go back to the topic.

What is Gaius's thinking / knowledge about magic and what can Merlin learn from him? This is the reason why he came to Camelot after all.

 

**Why did Hunith believe that Merlin should go to Gaius and Camelot to master his magic?**

Can you imagine this situation: You have a son, who has magic and grows up in a small village? Okay, that is not very spectacular, but now comes the important part: Your village lies outside of Camelot and that means having magic is not an automatic sentence of death. What the hell could you bring to send your son to Camelot, the capitol of evil, the lion’s den,… I mean that is like sending Merlin directly to the stake. I don't want to criticize Hunith not at all. But it is still hard to follow her thinking. Why did Hunith believe that Merlin would be in better hands in Camelot? Gaius must have a great talent that everyone believes he would be the essential helper for every kind of problem. He is really good when it comes to self-presentation. But the more important question is about the execution in reality.

 

**What does Gaius do to prepare Merlin for his destiny as Emrys?**

Well rule number one is quite obvious and present all of the time: `Don't get any attention!´ Gaius hammers this mantra into our hero's brain. That might keep him alive, but does not really help when it comes to fulfilling the prophecy thing. Therefore it is quite fair to ask the fourth question. … SILENCE! … Damn, this is really annoying. It seems we are always going to fail when it comes to answering tricky questions. I mean a spell book is hardly comparable to a true training or education of magic. Sorry Gaius, but I wouldn't go to Camelot just to read a spell book if I would be in Merlin's position. To be honest, Camelot is actually the last place in the world to look for a book about magic. But I want to be fair. Let's give them a second, third, … Whatever, they will have another chance. Merlin will surely learn a lot about magic in general (rites, religion, etc.)? Granted, Merlin has possibilities to pick up somethings, because of several magical issues. But I would not call these magic lessons. I just realize that Gaius often blames the Old Religion and their followers. That is quite strange and surprising, because I did always thought the prophecy said something about `unity of the old and new ways´. Gaius's teaching for Merlin is rather geared to beat the Old Religion. Just think about the episode, where Merlin meets the Disir. Our hero has been trained by Gaius for 8 years (probably more; the time leaps are unclear) and he knows nothing about the highest judge/voice of the Triple Goddess. But the most noticeable point is Merlin´s attitude towards the Old Religion in general: judgmental and hostile. Nevertheless it was still shocking to see Merlin´s statement about never allowing magic in Camelot (`The Disir´ (S05 E05)). There is only one thing remaining, considering all this:

**`THE FINAL BATTLE: THE OMNIPOTENT EMRYS VS. THE TRIPLE GODDESS´.**

Cool! I want to see this fight. PLEASE! Okay, I have a feeling that the image of our perfect pair has get some scars. Therefore I want to take a more critical look on them.

 

**How much do Merlin and Gaius trust each other?**

The obvious answer would be: “Absolutely.” But here are some incidences that could rub salt into the (not existing) wound. I don´t want to be mean. Okay, yes I want to have my fun. - The episode `Love in the Time of Dragons´ (S03 E09), where Gaius's old flame, Alice, appeared and Merlin did not trust her. Gaius thought that Merlin simply didn't want to see him happy. - The episode `The Disir´ (S05 E05), where Merlin explains why he has changed from the innocent boy to a (obsessed) Emrys. The statement “He grew up.” was quite shocking for Gaius, wasn't it? Did the pupil surpass the mentor?

The last point might sound mean and nasty, but it indicates a very specific scenario. Just imagine following: The most trusted friend and advisor of the king/queen is more like Gaius (or should I say Uther). Moreover, this person has the unlimited power of Emrys. Quite scaring, isn't it?


	2. Arthur and Uther – like father, like son. Maybe not?

Uther and Arthur do not have a storybook relation between father and son. Actually this is an understatement. It is definitely quite complicated. But to be fair, almost no one has such relation with his/her parents. But for me it was never clear if Arthur and Uther are a father-son pairing or rather a king and his most trusted knight – at least most of the time. Even more I dare to say that Arthur asked himself the same question several times. That brings us to the first question:

 

**How much of Uther is in Arthur and vice versa?**

I am well aware that some Arthur-fans might take this as a provocation and I do admit this is (partially) true. We should not forget the fact that Arthur was taught and educated by his father. Okay yes, it is quite unfair to blame Uther for everything. I mean it is rather unlikely for the great king Uther to change a baby or to read a bedtime story to his little boy. I guess there was a bunch of nannies for those parental stuff. Nevertheless, it is obvious that most of Arthur’s moral concept is caused by Uther, especially the `magic-is-evil´ brainwashing. It is neither unusual nor objectionable for a father (king) to transfer his principles to his son (future king). The son shall follow in his father’s footsteps after all. Of course all this is just for the love of Camelot. Oh yeah, the dreams of all fathers. Therefore, it is only logic for Uther to have very high expectations on his son and to hammer Camelot’s values into Arthur’s head. Unfortunately this is also the basic for Arthur’s issues with making own decisions.

That is also the (official) basic for Merlin’s and Gaius’s hesitation when it comes to revealing magic, because Arthur is not ready (yet). Hey guys, how can he be ready when he is under his father’s thumb all the time. Apropos `not ready´, what does this actually mean? Arthur is about 20 years old at the beginning of the show. We know this, because the first episode is about the celebration of the 20 anniversary of the Great Purge. We are talking about the Middle Ages, where women were married and had about 5 children at this age – more probably they died in childbed. However, I dare to give our two `advisors´ a tiny hint: “Arthur is not a wine. He is not getting better as longer as you store him.” Apart from this, the average lifespan of people in the Middle Ages was not that long (even for a king). It seems quite possible that Arthur would have died from tooth decay or something else before Gaius and Merlin would find him to be ready.

Okay, we do understand that Arthur’s moral concept is mainly based on his father. But I want to be fair and admit that he has some moments, where he makes some own decisions (e.g. when he is knighting commoners). But how is this possible? Maybe he was forced to make own decisions, because his father was not there to `teach´ him. Does that mean pushing our king out of his comfort zone might actually change things. That was enough nagging at Arthur – at least for the moment. I don’t want to drive all Arthur-fans away. It’s time to discuss the second part of the question: How much of Arthur is in Uther? Well, I guess it is not so easy for the great king to see his son and to be remind of his `error´ all the time.Arthur is a brutal reminder. You could say he wearing a marker with the label “I am here, because you killed mommy!” Therefore, it is fair to say that Uther has more from Arthur than pure paternal love. Feeling of guilt is definitely a strong motivation. But there are also moments were you could assume a positive influence of Arthur on his father. Just think about the episode `The Tears of Uther Pendragon´ (S03 E02), where Arthur leads the heroic fight of Camelot against the superior forces of Cendred. But suddenly another hero appears on the scene. The great king Uther is healed from Morgana’s curse and fights alongside with his son. They looked quite similar in this scene – like father, like son. Oh my god! Did I really speak in high terms of Uther? Someone must have spiked my coffee or it's a side effect of the constant thinking about all these crazy characters. Okay, calm down. I claim that Uther’s main motivation is rather to protect his kingdom and not the people. Phew, I hope this was good enough to protect the very last of my reliability.

I guess it is time to finish this topic, which was also unpleasant for me and to go back to Arthur. It is quite amazing how much he seeks the `wisdom´ and approval of his father, even several years after Uther´s death. In a school the students would tease him and call him mommy’s boy. But this is not fair since Arthur has no mother. Therefore the second question.

 

**Is there something like a daddy’s boy? – Is daddy proud of me?**

Sounds mean, doesn’t it? Is Arthur tied to daddy’s apron strings all the time? No. But what is about the knight, who follows every command of his king immediately? I guess this is true and a general problem in the relation between Uther and Arthur. Am I the only one who has problems to distinguish between a king, who talks to the crown prince or a father, who talks to his son? Arthur would surely prefer the latter one. However, Arthur’s fixation on obedience and loyalty is one of his dominant characteristics and surely caused by Uther’s paternal/military education. No wonder that Arthur has a problem to break with his father, even years after Uther’s death. Yes I know this is mean and provocative, but most of all it is very sad. Did Arthur really question his father, when Ghost-Uther haunted in Camelot and attacked his wife? Yes. It would have been ridiculous if Arthur would stand at attention: “Oh captain, my captain!” (I miss Robin Williams.)

But hey, such close father-son relationship has some advantages, especially if you want to cast the blame on somebody. You can always say: “Daddy said so.” or in Arthur’s own words: “You cannot blame me for my father's sins.” Daddy helps in every condition of life. Do you know what´s the best of this situation? Defendants cannot defend themselves if they are not present. Dead persons do not disagree, at least in most cases. Things can be complicated in magic-hating kingdoms like Camelot, where ghosts appear sometimes.

However, Arthur’s obsession of his father is special. It is one thing to follow his father blindly and unconditionally, but to replace Uther by an uncle who hasn’t been there for years/decades is tough. This thinking is so stupid on the one side, but also an act of desperation. Was there no one else in Camelot, who could be trusted? Is he so dependent on a surrogate father?

Now I get on all Arthur-fans bad side. Sorry guys! But it is a chance to press ahead with another provocation:

 

**How much similarities do exist between the pairs Uther-Gaius and Arthur-Merlin?**

This statement bases on the similar positions of these pairs within Camelot. The pair Uther and Gaius is more than just a king and his advisor/ court physician. They are also two good, but more important secret, friends. One cannot overemphasize the importance of the secrecy in this friendship. Well their definition of friendship is a little strange for my liking. I would not burn my friend at the stake in the morning and have a drink with him in the evening (`The Witchfinder´ (S02 E07))? But what is the reason for the close friendship between Uther and Gaius? It must be related to their youth. Let’s turn the clock back and see how the royal dream team looked like. Is there a young servant with a red scarf?

However, it is quite normal for Gaius and Uther to pass their values to their (surrogate) sons and followers. Some points are really eye-catching. One point is their way to transfer their knowledge and wisdom. At least this is what they should do. Is there anyone else, who has issues to find `wisdom´ in Arthur’s and Merlin’s actions and thinking? But I think it would be unfair to cast all the blame on the students. Their mentors criticize them most of the time. The motto seems to be: `As long as you are the only true friend/advisor you will be indispensable.´ That sounds mean and devious, but there is only one loser: Merlin. Sometimes Arthur uses the friendly and trustful relation to his servant. At other times, he lets out his frustration on Merlin’s shoulders. That is why you have servants. Someone must be responsible when shit happens.

No matter how you look at it, Arthur and Merlin place loyalty above all else and in some/many cases it is more important than the common sense. But such understanding of loyalty has some advantages. You can win a trustful position. This is quite useful to manipulate… sorry to advice your master and friend. Okay yes, it is a little bit more than advising. Both Merlin and Gaius have a tendency to act behind Arthur’s and Merlin’s back.

 

**Does Arthur have a split personality when it comes to his father?**

The relation between Arthur and Uther is contradictious. Actually that is a nice way to say it. On the one side Arthur would do everything to gain his father’s respect. Uther would say: “Camelot comes first.” On the other side he is aware of his father´s stupidity at least sometimes. But that is the problem, you can know that things are wrong and do nothing to prevent it. The problem is obvious even in the first seasons, but it gets even worst after Uther’s death. That is the point, where a full-grown and independent man (not to mention king) should make his own decisions. Okay, that was not so satisfying, because Arthur’s thinking and acting is mainly `copy and paste´ of his father. Once again, we come to the difference between knowing and admitting. That is the point, where my favorites phrase “Arthur is not his father” takes effect. There are many reasons to have a bitch about the producers, but they did not make Arthur completely idiotic. Can you imagine Arthur saying things like: “I do this (alliance with Sarrum) to make my father proud.”? Would this be funny, ridiculous or true? Maybe all together? I don’t know for sure, but it would make `Merlin´ look like a comedy show?

But stop this thinking about phrases. Dear readers, who can tell me a moment in the show where Arthur acts without wondering if his father would agree or not? Please send me a review. I was thinking really hard about this, but failed. Yes, there are moments, where Arthur acts against his father, but there is always the (secret) question about his father opinion/approval. Even the incidence with ghost-Uther was strange. Who attacked Camelot? Was it the `evil´ in Uther or was it the `evil´ in magic? Many wicked questions. Someone else would doubt himself, but Arthur is different. His reactions are very predictable, when it comes to those questions: “You cannot blame me for my father’s sins.”, “I wanted to prove myself to my father” etc. etc.

For a very long time I had the feeling that all this is just a stupid attempt to find an excuse for Arthur. The motto is very simple: “I know that I did mistakes, but I cannot admit it in public. So I blame my father for everything.” Let’s be honest, every of us did this, at least once. Recently I started to believe that Arthur is actually unsure what to do. There are always these conflicts and contradictions. Arthur wants to be compared and related to his father, but not with his father's wrongs. A mean person would call it a split personality or schizophrenia. “Yes father!”, “No father!”, … Oh come on Arthur. This is so annoying. Shit or get off the pot! I am getting crazy, because of this flip-flopping. It’s no wonder that nobody knows for sure what Arthur´s stands for. However, what is your meaning: “Am I wicked?” Is it possible that those things run in the family? Arthur wouldn’t be the first Pendragon, who has a screw loose.

 

**Arthur and Uther – to be palsy-walsy?**

Okay yes, the term palsy-walsy is a provocation. There are far too many conflicts between father and son. I did already say something about Merlin as a comedy. But a comedy wouldn’t have so many rolling heads and other ways to be killed. So how would you call the relation between father and son? It is no comedy and no romance, not at all. What do you think about soap? Let’s have a look on the ingredients: a noble and powerful family clan, potential for conflicts, enemies, an unwanted `affair´ between one of the nobles and a maid, a bastard daughter, … There is also the dramatic and spectacular change, where the power is transferred from the old patriarch (Uther) to the young and promising heir (Arthur). But the hopes are destroyed in a very tragic and dramatic way. There is also another point that supports the soap idea: the entire story can be lengthened endlessly. It’s like a classic soap with thousands of episodes, where the plot is predictable and kitschy. In summary we have everything for a (soapy) legend, which can be retold for centuries.

 

 

Well, that’s it. We are done with our little Uther-Arthur chat. Almost.

One question is still open. Why is Arthur sometimes able to go beyond his father’s teaching? The crucial word her is SOMETIMES. Why can he not see beyond it all the time?

A part of the answer might be quite simple: What could possibly go wrong?! Yeah, who would blame you after knighting commoners or marrying a peasant? Arthur’s understanding as king is rather simple. My knights love me, my people love me – everything is fine. Two things shall be mentioned here to avoid any misunderstandings. At first, the order is quite important. The knights come first. Arthur’s understanding of being king was mainly that of a guy wielding his sword and shouting “For the love of Camelot!”. Btw. the definition of `his people´ changes every 5 minutes. However, the important part here is that the chance for anyone blaming him is rather low.

But things are different when it comes to magic. There could be a lot of questions to answer and responsibilities to accept…


	3. Gwen and the men – I want my prince in shining armor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys,  
> first of all I want to thank everyone who is reading this story. You are always welcome to participate in the (crazy) discussions and speculations of this fic.  
> Here is a fair warning before I start with the new chapter: all Gwen-fans have to be very brave this time.

What can be said about the perfect queen of Camelot? What a wicked question? It’s totally clear that the answer has to be: “She is Arthur’s queen and she loves him unconditionally. She is loved and respected by everyone, including the ordinary people.” Well, this is the official version, but insiders and TV viewers know that there is a little more about Gwen. The most obvious point concerns her relation to Lancelot. But that’s all, isn’t it?

 

**How many relationships did her royal highness have (with men)?**

Let’s make a list. I am really wicked today. I have just written a few words and I am already writing a list of Gwen’s love interests. Boo! Treason!

Back to the topic, the first man in Gwen’s life is the hero of the show himself – Merlin. She thinks Merlin is brave and a real man and it is the beginning of a crush that develops in season 1. Merlin makes her laugh and she admits that she likes that. They shared their first kiss after he returned from the gates of death. Even more she appeared to be jealous of the attention Merlin paid to Nimueh (`The Poisoned Chalice´ (S01 E04)). Oh come on, who is jealous on an evil villain?

The next man on the list is a much more serious love interest – Lancelot. At first Gwen said to Merlin that Lancelot wasn’t her type, but later she developed romantic feelings for him. They are very close in season 2, that most people (including me) would grant them a happy ending. But it should / could not be. Lancelot carries a torch for her for a very long time, but a knight of Camelot must be ready to sacrifice himself for things or loves. Therefore it’s quite fitting that he dies a death of a hero. But it is even more dramatic and tragic. The main motivation for his self-sacrifice is to protect the rival in love (Arthur).

Another man on `Gwen’s list of love interests´ is a tiny intermezzo with another Knight of the Round Table – Gwaine. He had his eyes on Gwen from the moment he saw her and flirted with her in the market. Okay yes it does not last for long, but they stayed very close. Here is an interesting point about their relation. Should the love interest of the king (at this time) kiss a knight on the cheek (to say good bye). This is especially remarkable when her true love (Arthur) sees them together and becomes jealous? Oops!

Now without any further delay it is time for Arthur. There was the typical Yes and No of `Romeo and Juliet´ between them at the beginning. They could not or should not be together, because of their different social situations. But at the end they come together and become the perfect dream couple as king and queen of Camelot. Okay, there are some minor problems, for instance when Lancelot’s shade appears. But hey nobody is perfect. There are good and bad times in every marriage. All of this does not affect the image of the loving married couple, who supports each other and guides Camelot to Pomp and Circumstance. Well, I could say that Camelot’s glory is not a long-lasting thing and overshadowed by constant war. But there are always others to blame for.

Now we have a tiny list of men, who have a more or less serious flirt with Gwen. But how is this possible?

 

**What makes Gwen so special that every men fall for her?**

I know this might sound like insinuating something to her royal highness. This is not my intention. I am well aware of the consequences of such accusation. It would be treason and I like to see my head on my neck. Therefore: “Guinevere is a faithful wife to her king.” I promise. Nevertheless, it must be allowed to ask the question about the special qualities of Gwen. What is so attracting about the `ordinary servant´ in comparison to Morgana, the king’s ward and femme fatale in person?

It should be mentioned that not only heroes have a soft spot for the future queen, but also at least three of the villains, Agravaine, Helios and Hengist. Even more Hengist stated that she was as beautiful as Morgana although he had never seen Morgana (`Lancelot and Guinevere´ (S02 E04)). This is really amazing. I mean, these are the `villains´, who are supposed to think about death and destruction all the time. So it is quite obvious that Gwen must have something special, what attracts these `barbarians and monsters´ like moths to a flame.

Let’s see what Gwen has to offer. No doubt, she is beautiful. But is she really SO HOT? There are also other good-looking women in the show. I guess this is not the attracting point.

We can also cancel her social situation or money as possible reasons. Otherwise the relationship Merlin would have been a longer one. She and Merlin have most things in common concerning the social situation.

That leaves Gwen’s characteristics, like faithfulness and loyalty, as possible reasons of attraction. Err…, faithfulness… that is a very delicate matter. Yes, she is loyal to Camelot, like most people, who follow the `magic-is-evil´ mantra blindly and without any doubts. Gwen is even more loyal to Camelot’s laws than other people, since she enforces the regarding laws more than her husband. Queen Guinevere is very quick when it comes to executing sorcerers and other magic users, while Arthur pretends to hesitate in killing people. That is especially noticeable because of her personal experiences with Camelot’s war against magic. But I don’t want to discuss this topic here any further, because it was already discussed in my first fanfiction. It is more interesting to have a closer look on Gwen’s personal attitude to loyalty. Here is a meaningful citation: “As long as I live, my feelings for you will never fade.” Who said this? And maybe more important Who was the lucky guy? You have three guesses. Correct, it was Gwen’s promise of love to Lancelot. Is it unfair to question this understanding of loyalty? Was the “…as long as I live…” just a phrase without any meaning?

What the hell is it that makes Gwen so attractive? Come on guys, help me! Wait, I have an idea. Okay yes, it is mean (It’s me after all). It might be that we are dealing with something that I call the `forbidden fruit´-effect. Everyone knows this effect very well. There is something new and you want to have it, but you are not allowed to. But bans and vetoes make things even more interesting and attractive. At first, Gwen was shy and awkward and often found herself in situations she didn’t want to be in or saying things she didn’t mean to say. Usually this happened around male characters. To all male readers: Are you interested? Not yet? No problem, it’s getting better. You can’t have Gwen, because she is a servant and you are an honorable knight or crown prince. This does also explain why the villains were interested in Gwen. They wanted to know the servant that turned the king’s head.

Well, I fear that is the answer for the second question. Gwen as `forbidden fruit´ or better `forbidden woman´ is not spectacular or satisfying, but it proves that some phrases are very much true: “Men do not think with their brains.” It was true in the fifth century, it is true today and it will be true in future. I can say that, because I’m a man: “ALL MEN ARE PIGS!” (Sorry guys. We can accept this – after all we have fun discussing a `Hot queen´.)

 

**What does Gwen want from men?**

I guess it is only fair to ask this, especially since we have discussed the male perspective in the previous question. Therefore what does Gwen want? Well, she to plays havoc with her personal believing quite quickly. It is also indicated that social and intellectual similarities are not the main force in Gwen’s search for men. Before someone accuses me of being a stupid macho, I understand we are talking about the Middle Ages, where women didn’t have so much rights. Calm down, I did never say that the men in `Merlin´ are different in any way. Most of the honorable knights, kings, etc. are worse. We are just discussing Gwen’s priorities. Nobody can say that she was forced to leave Lancelot. Therefore, I have a daring (and wicked) proposal: We will have a look on the men in Gwen’s life and combine all of them to create `Gwen’s McDreamy´. Okay, here is a list of the men, in chronological order: Merlin – Lancelot – Gwaine – Arthur.

The relationship with Merlin was quite short and, in a time, where Gwen was mostly the shy servant. These first years and the related developments are important for her later acting and thinking. That means `Gwen’s McDreamy´ must support her, believe in her and promote her.

The relationship with Lancelot was definitely more serious. Both of them had very much in common and understood each other very well. They are no nobles and wanted to be something more, although it was against the stupid laws of Camelot. I dare to say that Gwen had true feelings for him till the end. The crucial question is what was wrong between them? What was missing to the perfect McDreamy? What more could she hope to achieve as a loving man, a Knight of the Round Table?

The episode with Gwaine was surely the shortest and most unimportant one for Gwen. It was never really serious. We would call it a one-night-stand nowadays (just without the sex part). But one thing might be interesting about it. Gwaine is another Knight of the Round Table. What’s the meaning of this?

Last but not least, Arthur. He is the perfect, heroic crown prince and king, who loves her and trusts her. Sounds perfect, doesn’t it? But there is one question that drives me crazy. “What is the crucial difference between Lancelot and Arthur, which makes Arthur more loveable?” I know Gwen-fans will hate me for the following answer, but I could not find another one. Believe me I tried. Gwen was dreaming the typical dream of little girls: “I want my prince in shining armor!” It is so stereotyped and kitschy. She started with the friend and advisor or the king. After this she had two honorable Knights of the Round Table and at last, she ends up with the king himself.

Do you see a tendency? Servant -> knight -> king??? I know what you expect from me. I know you expect to read this specific sentence, which contains words like `sleep´ and `way up´. SHAME ON YOU! This is a family show. (Psst! I am so proud of you. You are almost as ironic and wicked as me. Welcome to the dark side!)

 

**What is the final result of Gwen’s search for the perfect man?**

It’s not very much or almost nothing to be honest. She is alone at the end of the show. Okay yes, Queen Guinevere has all the power of Camelot for herself. She has an entire army of knights and the all-mighty Emrys, who obey her unconditionally. But she is not happy. I could be mean and rub salt into the wound by calculating the chance of survival for Gwen’s men. It’s one of four by the way (just 25 %). Evil to him who evil thinks.

But seriously, she sacrificed so much to achieve her goals and adjusted herself to many different requirements. It was amazing to see how quickly she adjusted to her new roles. Queen Guinevere was more confident in herself, strong willed and took on responsibility in her husband’s absences. Such adjustments are complicated and sometimes you have to sacrifice your own beliefs. Just think about the moment, where Queen Guinevere kept telling Sefa that she didn’t have a choice but to sentence her to death (`Arthur’s Bane´ (S05 E02)). This is the complete opposite of the servant Gwen from the first seasons, who told Gaius that people always had a choice, although it was sometimes easier to think that they didn’t.

Speaking of the court physician, he is also one of the important men in Gwen’s life, whereas he adopts different positions. No they are not related romantically! What do you think of me? Gwen could be his daughter after all. That would be a completely different genre, one with an age rating. Sorry, back to the relation between Gaius and Gwen. She is a good friend of Gaius and assists him from time to time in the first seasons. But in the fifth season she is Queen Guinevere Pendragon, who rejects her advisor’s comments and suggestions with a shrug of the shoulders (`Arthur’s Bane´ (S05 E02)). Is it possible that Gwen has lost herself?

In the previous chapter I indicated the possibility of Arthur having a split personality when it comes to his father and we don’t have to discuss the mental states of Uther and Morgana (especially in season 5). Is there a curse on the members of the Pendragon family? Neither of them has achieved their goals at the end. Quite the contrary, they have lost everything. VERY SAD.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew! I know that was very hard for all Gwen-fans. But you have done it. It’s over and there will be no more Gwen bashing… err… maybe a little bit. Chapter 8 will be `Gwen and Arthur – the perfect example of true love?´ Oops!


	4. Uther and Morgana – as father as daughter, maybe not?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I want to thank everyone for reading.  
> Okay guys, it is time for the next step. In the first chapters, we have discussed friends, lovers, partners, etc. All these pairs were united in a friendly and civil way. This will change now. Chapter 4 will be about some of the best enemies at all: Morgana and Uther.

During the chapter about Arthur and Uther I talked about a complicated and ambivalent relation between father and son. Considering this it is almost impossible to say something positive about Morgana and Uther. The term `complicated´ would be the understatement at all. But things are getting even more confusing and crazy if you consider the following wicked questions.

 

**Was there any kind of father-daughter relationship between Uther and Morgana? Is it even allowed to expect one?**

This is a moderate and mundane start for one of my chapters. Nobody can say that the question is provoking in any way. It is almost obvious and boring to claim that there is no such relationship between Uther and Morgana. It is definitely not what people hope or expect to see when they talk about the relationship between father and daughter. But this is not surprising, we are talking about a bastard daughter after all. BOO! That is absolutely unacceptable for a warlord and great king. Hey guys, this is the answer to the first question. You don’t need a father-daughter relationship if you have no daughter. I think we fixed the problem and it was so easy. The world was so simple in the male-dominated Middle Ages. You can have sex with several women without thinking about children and all these annoying consequences. Message to all men: “The Middle Ages are your dreamland. I found it. It’s your job to find us a time machine.” In the nowadays you have to pay tens of millions for a one-night stand and you will be the cover topic in the yellow press. Why the hell is it called the `dark age´? Well it could become dark when your little daughter learns the truth. She could be a little angry and she could try to kill you. Sounds extreme, doesn’t it? Maybe, but it’s only fair to admit that girls want to have fun too.

However, I guess it is quite fair to say that there is no reason to expect a father-daughter relationship between Uther and Morgana. Why is Uther so disappointed about this? Did he really expect Morgana to behave like a princess? Err, probably yes. That brings us to an interesting question. What do people expected from a princess? I am not someone, who beats about the bush. Here is the simple but true answer: “A princess has to be married to a lord and bear an heir to the throne.” This is another thing that was more simple in the days of the Middle Ages. Who the hell needs diplomacy if you have a daughter/ward to be married? Sounds super simple, doesn’t it? Women are war-fixing heroines. Cheers! Granted, they wouldn’t have seen as the ones who fixed the war and made peace. But they did, nonetheless. Okay yes, maybe things are not that simple if your daughter/ward is called Morgana. In this case it is completely unimportant if she is a ward or a princess. Morgana would never agree to an arranged marriage. Is there someone, who volunteers for convincing her of the opposite? In summary, everyone who expects a normal (whatever this is) relationship between these two characters must be totally insane – probably as mad as Morgana and Uther.

On the other side it is not allowed to have a father-daughter relationship, because it is a secret and they are at war with each other. Okay but, the Pendragons are hardly the first family, who has some issues with each other. Therefore I suggest we should go a step further and start an attempt to really understand the motivations of father and daughter.

 

** Are Uther und Morgana really so unusual for father and daughter? **

Issues appear in every kind of relationship. In that way the relationship between Uther and Morgana is quite normal. Yes, their measures might seem a little extreme, but this is just because of the time. I did already mention the (dis)advantages of the dark ages. It was almost standard to have a real go at each other and smashing someone’s head. So, what happens if we neglect that (violent) part and transfer Morgana and Uther into the 21. century? Will it be a normal father-daughter relationship?

  * A rich power and powerful man betrays his wife and conceives an illegitimate child. –> absolutely normal and boring
  * A man, who doesn’t want to be father in public, but wants to have contact to his child and rears the child in his own home –> hello Arni Schwarzenegger
  * A daughter, who rebels against the educational methods of her secret father/guardian all of the time –> that’s called puberty (okay Morgana’s phase of defiance is quite long, but some people are late developers)
  * A father, who prefers one of his two children. He has a favorite son and heir. That alienates his daughter even more. –> Yawn! That happens at least 10 times in every morning show.
  * A daughter learns about her true heritage and gets a huge tantrum. She is emotionally charged and confused. She seeks retribution on her liar father –> okay the knife thing is a little hard, but some plates have to get broken.
  * The angry daughter is an easy catch for an expelled half-sister. She is manipulated and used as tool by her sister to get revenge. –> Maybe a little kitschy, but not unusual for a TV soaps. It’s not so surprising that an unknown member of the family appears from time to time in such snobbish families. For me there is always a suspicion of incest in the upper-class circles. Psst, the servants know every secret.
  * The daughter misuses the gullibility of her father and plots against him in secret. She prepares her plan to overthrow her father and enjoys the pleasure to see him suffer (legendary smirk). –> soap says hello
  * The daughter reveals herself in a spectacular scene to her shocked and horrified father. She holds an excessive monolog to tell her father about the extent of her hatred for him. The father is completely broken after this betrayal and slumps down. –> Err, it’s really getting embarrassing now. This is so much copy-and-paste from soaps.
  * The father is saved by the heroic and honorable son. But does not recover anymore and dies from broken heart and/or the consequences of his own doings. –> Sorry, I fell asleep over it. The end was so predictable.



What do you think? I have a strong feeling that all this happens quite often and is absolutely normal. The similarities to soaps are remarkable and amazing. That makes me think about a wicked question: “Who did copy and where is the original?” At least one thing is definitely sure. The Arthurian legend was written centuries before TV producers appeared on the planet. However, I guess we agree that the relationship between Uther and Morgana is not as unusual as people tend to believe. Should we try to fix it?

 

**Is there any plausible reason for the quarrel between Uther and Morgana?**

That might sound a little arrogant of me. I doubt the reason for a war and the basic of the entire legend after all. But I claim to say that we are more civilized than the people of the bloody and dark Middle Ages (at least sometimes). Therefore I suggest that we have an unemotional and objective look (LOL) on the basic of the quarrel between father and daughter. We will write a list of pros and cons to discuss the issues independently. An example is the state secret about Morgana’s true heritage. Who benefits from it and who suffers? There are three main participants (except Gaius, Ygraine, etc): Uther, Arthur and Morgana.

**Pro vs. con: Was it correct to lie about Morgana’s heritage?**

**Uther: seems to win**

Pro: he can hide his affair with Vivienne; his favourite son is the only one, who has a claim for the throne -> Intermediate result: 2:0

Con (if someone knows the truth): the people of Camelot will know that the great king Uther had an affair with the sorceress Vivienne; his son sees him as a liar and hypocrite (will probably not happen because Arthur is daddy’s perfect son); his daughter will destroy him and everything he stands for -> Final result: 3:2 – Con wins!

**Arthur: is he really the winner?**

Pro: he is the one and only to claim the throne -> Intermediate result: 1:0

Con: there would be not so much pressure on him, if Morgana would be his sister officially; a seer and sorceress as sister would help him to resist his father’s `magic-is-evil´ brainwashing and he could become a fair and justice king for everyone -> Final result: 2:1 – Con wins! 

**Morgana:** the possibility for her to win seems ridiculous, but who knows

Pro: Morgana’s childhood is overshadowed by the loss of her father; she has no claim for the throne -> Intermediate result: 2:0

Con: Morgana’s claim for the throne is neglectable, since she is a bastard child; a real princess has more pressure for an arranged marriage -> Final result: 2:2 Remis!

Conclusion: Nobody wins from this stupid lie about Morgana’s true heritage. Okay, Morgana is the loser in both cases, but it is noticeable to focus on Uther’s result. He suffers most because of his own lie. I could say something about karma, destiny, etc, but I like prefer to say: “Shit happens! You should have made a list of pros and cons.” I know it’s not really fair to say this afterwards. You are right I cannot understand the enormous pressure on the poor king Uther Pendragon. Yes, this is correct, because I have no illegitimate children (not that I remember) and I have no kingdom to rule. Wait, this is my fanfiction. That means I can make everybody dance to my tune. Memo to myself: “Write lists of pros and cons! It could avoid some unwanted trouble/war.”

However, it is quite clear that there is almost no plausible reason for the …err… let’s call it `differences in opinion´ between Uther and Morgana. Therefore we can fix the relationship between father and daughter by discussing the interpersonal situation.

 

**What role plays Morgana in Uther’s life and vice versa?**

The official role of Morgana is the king’s ward at the beginning and the evil witch at the end. Not so bad for one single person, she covers the full range from the court lady to the public enemy number one. That is the difference between Morgana and a typical lady of the Middle Ages, who picks flowers or is grateful for a kiss on the hand. It is rather fitting to see Morgana as a businesswoman. There is just the tiny problem of the contrast to Uther’s wishful thinking for his daughter. But what are Uther’s plans for Morgana’s future? Is she supposed to be like the son, who obeys his father’s orders unconditionally? That might be possible, but is rather unlikely. People say that fathers tend to have a soft spot for their daughters and mothers for their sons. This could explain Uther’s attitude to Morgana. He would probably like to see his little girl on daddy’s lap. Urgh, I will need some time to get this out of my head. In that way, it is good to know that Morgana is rather a rebellious teenager, who questions everything concerning Uther.

It’s not so easy to be king. We really should have some sympathy for Uther. He is either father (okay a lousy one) or a king, but he cannot be both. He is really trying his best. It is not his fault that Morgana is such an ungrateful child, although she gets all the pretty dresses. It is also worth mentioning that Morgana can disagree with him without losing her head (she is just put to the dungeons). The comparison with Arthur is not really fitting since it is absolutely inacceptable for the first knight to object the king. Camelot is no democracy, not at all. Where would we be then? But there is no reason to worry about this since Arthur is a brave soldier (more important than being son), who obeys bravely. There are just a few incidences where Morgana kicks him in the pants. But the most important prove of Uther’s fatherly feelings is the secret toleration of Morgana’s magic. Magic in Camelot?! Yes guys, I believe that Uther suspected his daughter of having magic. A father has to be very blind to ignore the dreams etc. all the time, not to mention the relation to her sorceress-mother. Do I overestimate the perfect father and king here? Probably.

Let’s have a look on the other side. What is Morgana thinking about Uther? At the end, he is the pure evil tyrant, because she reduces him to the magic topic. But I am more interested in Uther as human being. The relationship between father and daughter has been difficult from the beginning. It does not matter if ward or real princes, Morgana did never fulfill the stereotype of a court lady. So what is the connection between Uther and Morgana? Is it just the memory of Gorlois, the supposed father and best friend? Really sad.

There is at least one point that father and daughter have in common: in their last days they are a pathetic shadow of their former selves. Just think about Morgana’s reaction on her main enemy’s death. There was no celebration, just pain, broken people and depression.

Oh come on guys! That is so frustrating. This is the fourth chapter about very different kinds of pairs: friends, lovers and really good enemies. But the final result is depressing all of the time. What the hell happened to the legendary and perfect Camelot? I feel like talking about the Kennedys.


	5. The Pendragons - blessed with power or cursed with madness?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is different to all the others, because it was not written by me. This chapter was from two of my favorite followers: cathrine10 and anti35. They have already written a great chapter to my previous fic and now they decided to make her ideas about the Pendragon family accessible to us. ENJOY IT!

Or should we say blessed with power AND cursed with madness? Yes, I think that would suit all of them better, even Once and Future King Arthur and dear, sweet Guinevere.

Now let’s start with Uther. We all know and hate the madman that yells “lit the pyre” every chance he gets. My question though: Was he ALWAYS like this? Despite disliking him I have to admit that if we piece together what little information we are given in the first two seasons the answer is no, he was not.

Remember Gaius’s words in S01E12 “…he brought peace and stability into this land…” as well as Nimueh’s in S01E09 “I was your friend” and “you threw me out of your court.” Also, after the `Morgause fiasco´ it becomes clear to everyone that he loved his queen. This little facts are proof to me that at some point in his early reign he actually was a fair and just king that secured peace, had good relationships with the Isle of the Blessed to the point of having a High Priestess at his court, inspired loyalty to his subjects and it is safe to assume that he had good relationships with magic in general. Now every Uther hater will hate me for this but in my opinion with Uther’s record so far, he is a lot more likely candidate for the Once and Future King position than Arthur.

So what the hell went wrong? Of course it was the problem with the lack of heir. Admittedly in the century we live in this isn't that big of a deal but at those times lack of heirs to the crown went hand in hand with civil war so he was a little (very little) justified with his obsession to have a son and thus make a deal with the Old Religion that we all know how it turned out. Uther, judging by his reaction, had no idea that it would be his beloved queen that would kick the bucket. Well what can we say, accidents do happen. But Uther instead of taking responsibility for his actions, like a real man, blames it all to magic, betrays his long term friends and allies and kills a few thousands of his citizens who knew nothing about the queen’s death and goes on to sire a bastard with his best friend’s wife. If he lived in the 21st century I would most probably gather petitions to lock him in a mental, being king in an era where mass executions were the norm protected him from such treatment. And that is the first person the throne of Camelot corrupted. Next in line is our darling witch Morgana.

First and second season Morgana is what we today would call an activist of peace, an avid supporter of freedom and equality. Even before she knew she had magic she fought against her guardian’s inhuman treatment of sorcerers, pushed the other heroes to do the morally right thing and stuck by her decisions to help others even when she knew she may get to serious trouble for her compassion. For example, she defends Gwen in front of court, urges Arthur to save Merlin’s life, hides a druid boy in her chambers etc. Yet another Pendragon that fits the description of the Once and Future King, or Queen in this case, before she spirals downhill. Now we all know what happened to living in constant fear of being executed and hated by the society in general causes a few mental in and a betrayal of a close friend and a witch half-sister that urges you to join her cause and Ta-da! The perfect recipe for a complete personality change.

Normally I would applaud Morgana’s decision to take matters in her own hands instead of arguing the point with Uther all day long or trying to convince Arthur to do the right thing. The only problem is that she no longer seems to care about doing the right thing but vengeance and it only escalates when she learns her true just see what happens the first time she takes the throne. Now I cannot blame her for what she did to Uther or what we firstly thought she would do to the captured knights. I know that it sounds cruel and barbaric but once again take into consideration the era our heroes live those times it was not completely unusual for the usurper of the throne to kill the previous monarch’s supporters especially if the legitimate heir of the throne was running around gathering his own supporters. Besides those knights weren’t the best people around what with attacking druid camps and killing every alleged sorcerer or sympathizer. They slayed defenseless people and they were going to be slain while they were also defenseless. What can I say, karma is a how Morgana decided that ordering her archers to shoot at people left and right was going to help her goal of freeing the magic users goes way beyond anything she served as proof that magic was like Uther she only gets worse till she becomes completely insane.

All in all, in the end the only real difference between Morgana and Uther is that she has legitimate reasons not for the actions she took but for changing enough to be able to take these actions. An old saying says “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”. But if said scorned woman reaches the point of committing patricide, attempts fratricide and becomes the moral perpetrator in the deaths and suffering of thousands then I think some lessons in anger management are in order. 

The next Pendragon we will discuss is Arthur, the fabled Once and Future King that will unite the land of Albion, free magic etc. Or, maybe not. We have to admit that he never went as crazy as his father nor went from one extreme to another as his sister. If anything he is quite moderate in expressing his beliefs. Now in other circumstances that would not be so bad. How many fanatic sovereigns can Camelot put up with without falling apart after? I think it would be safe to assume that one must possess, and some other positive qualities than simply lack of fanaticism in order to be the Once and Future King. For instance, he should be independent, strong-willed and able to make his own decisions, something Arthur doesn’t seem very good face it, for all the things Arthur was supposed to be he never seemed to be able to take any sort of action without Morgana, Merlin or Guinevere urging him along. One can’t help but wonder if he actually bothered forming an opinion for himself or if he blindly follows his father’s beliefs and/or orders.

Naturally, Arthur’s belief that he had to be the perfect son his father wanted caused him to develop some problems of his own. If Uther and Morgana are schizophrenics with a tendency for the extreme, then Arthur had an obsession with earning his father’s approval as well as an inferiority complex. One would think that after Uther passed on he would get over his obsession and become his own person. But, alas this is not the case. If anything, Arthur is even more hell-bent on making his father proud and spends his whole reign trying to rule as Uther would, making alliances he would approve of (Sarrum) and upholding this makes him an easy prey to traitors like Aggravaine. I swear the only thing the man had to say was `this is what your father would have done´ to make Arthur dance to his every whim.

Also, at the end it was this obsession that brought about our beloved king’s made the decision to kill Mordred’s love, because he had to uphold his father’s laws and because it was the decision his father would have much as I would like to defend Arthur on this he just doesn’t have a leg to stand on in this had one of his best knights begging him on one knee to spare his beloved, a girl who was a confused, impressionable teenager that had most probably joined Morgana’s cause for lack of a better he had shown mercy, Mordred wouldn’t have betrayed him and Camlan would not have happened.

Conclusion: whoever sits on the throne of Camelot should find a good shrink or he will end up as insane as the Pendragon family.

 

The end. I know I also promised to write about Gwen but as it seems the files about her cannot be retrieved because they have been deleted from the hard disk or something like that thus we will not write about her.

 

**SOOO SAD!!!**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed it. For me it is always a great fun to discuss and speculate with others. Please keep in mind that I am not interested in `convincing´ you of my own opinion. Would be borrowing if the whole world shares my (crazy) thinking. But it is always cool to think beyond the ideas of the show.
> 
> Next time, I will be back with another crazy chapter: Merlin - Nimueh...


	6. Merlin and Nimueh – flirting with the enemy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, the first chapters were meant to establish the idea of this fic. I intend to write chapters about pairs, where at least one of the persons is a member of the Big Four (Merlin, Arthur, Gwen, and Morgana). This one is about Merlin and Nimueh. It is a special challenge and interesting for me since Nimueh is one of the most underestimated characters at all.

Where shall I start? At first, I want to emphasize that the relationship with Nimueh is limited on the first season. I know this seems to be obvious, since it is very complicated to have a relationship with a ghost – even in Camelot. However, I mention this, because of Merlin. In season one he is just a big greenhorn and knows as much about Camelot and magic as the man in the moon. That might sound disparaging, but it is not meant to be so.

I really liked him at this time. In the later chapters he becomes the almighty Emrys with a huge God complex. That’s why I prefer the lanky idiot from Ealdor. The resulting limitation on the first season does also result in a nice conflict and flirt potential, especially since Nimueh is no amateur (in more than one way).

 

**Why could Merlin and Nimueh be a good match?**

Yes you read correctly. I do actually believe they are compatible with one another. There is just a tiny issue with them: Arthur. Just imagine a world without him. Do you see a nice (and powerful) magical couple, which is actually able to free Camelot and Albion from Uther’s tyranny? But this is just a wild and crazy speculation or dream (depending on personal likings). Arthur does exist and this is just another example for wonderful possibilities ruined by men … err … idiocy is more correct.

Back to the topic, what do they have in common that could unite them? The obvious answer is magic. This binding is stronger than the binding between Merlin and Gaius. Nimueh could teach him much more than Gaius, especially since Gaius’s lessons are an old dusty spell book. Since when are poor farm boys able of the Dark Middle Ages able to read and write? However, it is more important that they share the same experiences, fears and feelings considering their magic and the resulting consequences for the living in Camelot. Does anyone remember another woman who shares this with Merlin? A hint: she has black hair and white skin.

Why is it always the same end? There are so many people dying around Merlin, although they share so many similarities.

However, Merlin and Nimueh are both born with magic. That might sound trivial, like both have two hands. But this is not true. We are talking about Camelot 20 years after the Great Purge after all. The remaining people with true magic can be probably counted on the fingers of one hand. Another thing that Merlin and Nimueh have in common is their enemy: Uther. How does a good old wisdom say: `The enemy of my enemy is my friend.´ It’s just Merlin, who is too stupid to see the obvious things. Yes Merlin, Uther is the enemy. The great king would hang you, burn you, behead you, draw you blah blah, just assumed that something is left of you…

I know Merlin, you will not listen to me, although I have shouted at you while watching the episodes over and over again. Btw. the prophecy didn't say a word about protecting Uther - what you have done most of the time. Protecting Uther and helping Arthur are two different stories. Therefore, I please you to listen to your conscience. Yes, I am talking about the grumpy dragon, who tells you what to do all of the time. What does he say in the episode `To Kill the King´ (S01 E12): “…let Uther die…” Why is it so complicated to understand this? You had no issues with letting people suffer and die in Camelot’s war against magic or poisoning people.

By the way, these people did actually care about you and trusted you… Well, at least up to that time. Oh, come on Merlin! It is really hard with you. I feel like talking to a wall. I mean you are not even listening to Kilgharrah (a red-letter day!). How can I expect you would listen to me?

So, what can we do to convince (I have no problem with `force´) our stubborn sorcerer about a date with Nimueh? Destiny and Prophecy! Yes, this is the answer, because it is another thing that our unwilling love birdies have in common. Both wouldn’t lift a finger as long as it is not written in any old dusty book. There are two people, who have the power to free magic, but cannot do anything. And what is the reason for this? Destiny and prophecy. But what is the meaning of these omnipresent words? Is it a sign from some gods or higher powers? Is it an old scribbling with the label `prophecy´ on it, just because some crazy idiots wrote it hundreds of years ago? I don’t know why you are thinking about this crap. This is just so disappointing.

The resulting obsession was demonstrated very well by Nimueh. The best example is a scene in `Excalibur´ (S01 E09), where she has a cozy little chat with Uther instead of killing him. Another example is the episode `The Poisoned Chalice´ (S01 E04). She has several opportunities to kill Arthur but does nothing, because it is not her destiny. Oh come on lady! Did you ever hear about the phrase `If one wants to have one’s business well done, one must do it oneself.´? Oh, forget it! This obsession of destiny was also a very important characteristic of Merlin, although it is no prove of his intelligence. But it could have been helpful in the case of Nimueh.

I dare to say that the mentioned examples indicate that she is not just interested in her revenge against Uther and freeing magic. It seems that there are only two men in Nimueh’s life – Uther and Merlin. Oops! Okay yes, it is obvious that she will not become good friend with Gaius once again, since he played an important role in the Great Purge. Nevertheless, she saved Arthur’s life. Repeat it: SAVED ARTHUR’S LIFE. Have we ever seen this in the entire show? There is a villain, who is only interested in Uther. All the other villains lost their mind at some point of time and started to put Uther on a level with Arthur and the entire kingdom of Camelot. The typical results were some crazy and predictable plans of revenge and to conquer the world.

Merlin you are an idiot. You did actually waste one of the best chances ever. Did you honestly believe in a Camelot with magic as long as Uther lived? Not even the legendary Arthur would have done this. By the way, when did this utopia of a legend appear in the show? I haven’t seen him.

I guess it’s time for a break. We have established that Merlin is incapable of relationships. Okay, yeah nothing new… For me it is still interesting to speculate about the possibility of a relationship between Merlin and Nimueh. One interesting question could deal with Nimueh’s `benefits´. Of course it is also important to consider the opposite perspective: What is so attracting on Merlin?

 

**What is the basic for the `magic´ attraction between Merlin and Nimueh?**

In some ways the answer is already written in the question. The attraction is magic… I could say love is blind, but it seems that magic is blind as well. Therefore it can happen that you could fall for your enemy. I dare to say that something like this happened to Nimueh, although she would never admit it. For me that is the only way to understand her actions during the confrontation in the last episode of season 1. She was watching Big Brother for a very long time with her scrying bowl and must have been fully aware of Merlin’s naive loyalty to Camelot. So, she fall for our favorite warlock … err sorry … for his magic.

Nevertheless, she says things like “…I didn’t know your importance…” and offers Merlin cooperation. I have no issues with people, who cannot leave their house without reading their horoscope. It is just a harmless tic. But Nimueh’s actions there are either idiotic or suicidal. In that way the end was quite predictable.

But what could have been without this incident? Merlin + Nimueh – a nice couple? What is your opinion? Yes, there is a difference in age, but it is not really visible. Just to remember, Nimueh is approximately the same age as Uther and Gaius. She could have been Merlin’s mother. A relationship between an older and more skillful woman on the one side and a virgin and inexperienced man on the other side is a really interesting idea. Psst Merlin, don’t let her go. This woman knows what she is doing. It is quite probable that she had an affair with Uther, after all. You just have to imagine her enormous abilities to seduce this old geezer and king.

I have just realized that I brought myself in big trouble because of these speculations. This fiction is meant to be entertaining for both men and women. Therefore it would be my job to discuss Merlin’s skills as lover. But I’m not going to do this for my and your sake. I refuse to imagine Merlin’s sixpack under his blue shirt. But I have a compromising proposal for all women: Let’s bitch about Nimueh!

I did already mention Nimueh’s `advanced´ age. To come straight to the point, she is at least 50 years old, probably more. This means to have almost one foot in the grave in the Middle Ages. Just look at Gaius, he wouldn’t go too far without a walking stick or get lost in his lab without a monocle – btw. I dare to speculate about some magic doping. However, Nimueh shows no sign of aging, not at all. What the hell is she doing? Nobody would wonder about this in Hollywood and I would surely say something about Cher. But plastic did not exist at the time of Camelot.

Nonetheless, Nimueh looks like a student at spring break in Fort Lauderdale. So girls, the moral of this story is: “Forget face creams, peelings and Botox. The only thing that matters is magic.” A tiny spell and you will look like Marilyn Monroe (just without drugs and alcohol). Yes, I know that magic does not exist (anymore). But what would have been without idiocy like Uther and the Medieval Inquisition? Can you imagine such a world, where shamans with druid necklets are on the cover of fashion magazines instead of a photoshopped Naomi Campbell?

Okay, this was enough foolery for now. Let’s come back to the main topic.

 

**Why did the relationship between Merlin and Nimueh fail before it could begin?**

This is a pretty simple question without much space for speculations. The simple answer is: “Both of them are idiots, who were obsessed of destiny and prophecies.” Well, the answer might be true, but it is not really satisfying. I want to discuss a more interesting topic about the end of the relationship between Merlin and Nimueh.

It should be noted that the last episode of season 1 is also the end of the young and naive boy from Ealdor. From that point on another person appears more often: Emrys. Therefore, I claim to say that Nimueh’s death is the point where Emrys was born. This is quite remarkable, because Nimueh wasn’t the first victim of Merlin. But she was the first person, who was killed in cold blood. Merlin had become what he hates most. We have seen a vengeful and coldblooded sorcerer. He was what Morgause, Morgana etc. became several years later.

It’s time for the final conclusion. Is it possible that two people can have too much in common for a relationship? There shouldn’t be too many people with the power of life and death. At the end it is quite simple: “There can be only one!”


	7. Arthur and his knights – High school football in Camelot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At first I want to answer some questions about my plans for the future of this fic. I will always appreciate suggestions for further chapters. If you have other pairs in mind please write me. But please consider that I cannot write about characters that appeared very shortly (e.g. Hunith, Freya.).  
> This chapter is another one with the extended meaning of `pairs´. The chapter is about Arthur and his knights. But Mordred will not be part of this. Magic and knights did never match in Camelot. There will be other chapters about him.  
> The special thing about this chapter is a high challenge for my US-American readers. I will slightly misappropriate one of your national treasures: American Football. It is not my intention to insult someone, especially since I do not even know the exact rules. I guess you have to trust me in this point and to remember that this is a satire. Therefore here is the moto of this fic once again: HAVE FUN AND DO NOT TAKE IT DEADLY SERIOUS!

I don’t want to write a long introduction, because of my special announcement at the beginning. Here comes the first question.

 

**What are the similarities between American Football on the one side and Arthur and his knights on the other side?**

Okay what do you think? What kind of wicked joke do I have in mind? American football and Camelot is a really strange comparison, since there are no dragons, magic, etc. The answer is: They have nothing in common. The comparison is not about the sport itself. I did already say that I don't even know the rules. It is just about the whole schmear, which is more or less related to High school football. There are so many stereotypes, which are presented and exploited in several shows and films.

So what do we need to establish our own football team? The first thing is a name. I would like to call us `Camelot’s Knights´ and we will wear red capes will a golden dragon instead of some boring jerseys. Yes, I know this is not really comfortable for a match, but you had to be tough in the Middle Ages.

Okay, so much about the basics. Now it’s time to concentrate on the team. We need a quarterback and team captain. This guy is usually related with the head of the cheerleaders. This pair is obviously destined to be the prom queen and prom king. But what is about the rest of our team. We need some strong and brave guys, who follow their captain to the end of the world (or end of the game). I think you can assume what I have in mind: It will turn out that the head of the cheerleaders is a scheming bitch. A social misfit is going to win the crown of the prom queen and the heart of the quarterback. They fall in love with each other and lived happily ever after. I need a tissue. Teen films are so mushy.

I’m pretty sure you know it already, but here are our actors: the quarterback and team captain…Arthur Pendragon; the evil cheerleader…Morgana Pendragon; the social misfit and future prom queen…Guinevere Pendragon. But what is about Merlin. He is the title character after all. We cannot have a team without him. Well you know these teen films. There is always some little helper to unite the quarterback and his true love - whatever this is.

Okay this is the basic idea behind my mysterious announcement at the beginning. It is as I promised, we are not talking about Football as a sport. Some readers might question the title of the chapter. Why did I not write something like “Arthur and his knights – teen films”? Yes, I could have done this, but I don’t want to discuss the `love triangle´ of Gwen, Morgana and Arthur. This chapter is about the relationship between the knights and Arthur. That’s why the comparison with football is quite fitting, but we are going to focus on the spirit of the team and not the sport.

At first we want to check the lineup. The main person is Captain Arthur Pendragon, crown prince and king of Camelot. The second is Sir Leon, the oldest and most experienced of the knights. He is Arthur’s right hand on the battle- and/or playing field. Sir Lancelot, the bravest and most noble of them all (Kilgharrah) is number three in the list. He has the role of the tragic idiot, who is needed in every team and teen film. The next one is Sir Gwaine. I did already write a chapter about him and his conflict between bravery and suicidal attitude. The others (or minor) knights are Sir Percival and Sir Elyan. The first one is the bodybuilder and the other is the little brother of the queen. I do not mention the black sheep Sir Mordred, because he has magic and Arthur said it himself. He should have never brought him to Camelot. So this is our team. Do you recognize the characters from your school?

Football players have to be quick, strong etc., but what is about the knights of Camelot? A knight, who cannot handle a sword is as useless as a blind, deaf and stupid football player. However, it is still unanswered. What makes the Knights of the Round Table so special?

 

**What is so special about the knights and what can I do to become one of them?**

We did already establish that a knight of Camelot has to be strong, quick and well aware how to handle a sword. But this is true for all the knights and soldiers in Camelot. There is an entire army ready to die the death of a hero. But only 5 of them have a place at the Round Table. This is my application for a job in Camelot. So what qualifications are required to get a red cape? But it is not just about the cape. I want to be a knight of the Round Table instead of boring gate guards, especially since these guys are killed at first. I want to be a part of the management level and the best way to do this is to check the rivalry:

Sir Leon: the oldest knight was already a loyal and high-ranking knight when Uther was king. He worked his way up from nothing. -> Patience is not my strength. I want my cape now.

Sir Lancelot: a loyal guy, who is very eager to die the death of a hero and to leave his girlfriend to his king -> No, I like my life.

Sir Gwaine: he is loyal, brave and… err… yes he is brave. I guess hard-drinking and humor is not something to be written in an application for a job. -> really tricky; the difference between bravery and stupidity is very thin.

Sir Elyan: a quiet and loyal guy, who is the brother of the queen -> there is nothing about connections

Sir Percival: a loyal giant -> I am not good at bodybuilding.

It’s time to face the truth. It’s not my destiny to be a knight. I guess it’s better this way, since I will live long enough to write more chapters for this fic. However, I realized an interesting detail while writing the qualifications of the knights. All knights are absolutely loyal to Camelot/Arthur (Is there a difference between these two things). However, what is the actual meaning of this other word?

 

**What is the true meaning of loyalty?**

Loyalty and faithfulness are the basic of Camelot, like some kind of a slogan. But what do they actually mean when they are shouting: “For the love of Camelot!” or “For the king!” Loyal followers of this fic (LOL) know that there must be a hitch somewhere, when I am emphasizing something this way. I am going to show you the absurdity of Camelot’s understanding of loyalty. Merlin and Morgana did already mention Camelot’s understanding of loyalty: “Don’t think I don’t understand loyalty just because I have no one left to be loyal too.” (`A servant of two masters´ (S04 E06)).

The theory says that the king protects and cares for the kingdom and its people. What happens if he is not doing his job correctly? What happens if he prefers some people (e.g. non-magic people)? What should a loyal and faithful knight do in such situation? Some people might believe that this question is worth to discuss and to think about it carefully. Nope. I don’t want to. Thinking is so exhausting. It’s easier to replace the people of Camelot by the king itself. Bingo! Well, I fear this is the answer for the knights understanding of loyalty. I know it’s disappointing, but not surprising.

But this understanding of loyalty has an unwanted side effect. Let’s put ourselves in Arthur’s position: everyone is blindly loyal to us; everyone shouts “Long lives the king!” Whom shall we trust? I guess we have to check Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table more carefully.

Leon: obeyed Arthur’s father for many years (like exchanging the shouting and grumpy coach (Uther) for the quarterback (Arthur)) -> some people would call it pragmatism

Lancelot: did already risk his life to become a knight during Uther’s regime. -> totally obsessed of becoming a knight; does not really care who is the king and what he stands for

Gwaine: thinks all nobles are arrogant idiots; even told Merlin that if he had known who Arthur was he wouldn't have saved him; has nothing against magic, although he agrees with Camelot’s laws -> is a friend of Merlin and hates titles, although he is a Sir himself

Elyan: brother of the queen -> corruption and favoritism

Percival: Gwaine is his best friend -> is he a knight because of Gwaine or because of Arthur?

What is your opinion? Arthur’s choice for the Round Table seems to be a mixture of corruption, hidden agenda, obsession and disinterest. Is any knight really convinced by Arthur’s way to rule Camelot?

How can Arthur trust anyone of them? The simple truth is: He cannot and does not. A simple example for this is the incidence, as he discovers that there must be a traitor in Camelot, who was actually Agravaine. But Arthur briefly grew to distrust all his knights, including Leon. Granted, this example does mainly prove Arthur’s nativity and not the loyalty of his knights. (Reminds me of the (blond) and slightly naive quarterback in teen films.) Nevertheless, loyalty and trust should be a connection in both directions. Arthur might be a king, but even a king has to earn respect, trust and loyalty...

Therefore I want to speculate and discuss Arthur’s understanding of loyalty. Can anyone trust Arthur’s word? I don’t want to say something about Arthur’s worthless talking about peace and freedom for magic people. This is too obvious and simple. There is a more spectacular moment, which shows the king’s loyalty and faithfulness. I am talking about the episode `The Coming of Arthur´ (S03 E12 & E13), where Arthur knights Lancelot, Gwaine, Elyan etc. Arthur-fans would probably call this moment `The beginning of Albion´. Sorry guys, I would rather call it “more luck than judgement”.

I will explain this by a simple but funny what-if question. It is important to notice that there are several conflicts in this specific act of knighting. Arthur has no right to knight Lancelot, etc, since he is not king yet and the newly made knights are commoners. This is treason and we all know the corresponding punishment. These punishments are cancelled, because of Uther’s mental state. But what would have been in case of a healthy Uther? Would Arthur defend his knights seriously? He has not done it during Gwaine’s and Lancelot’s first appearance in Camelot. The trustful and loyal crown prince was just capable of a halfhearted “please daddy”. Do you think he would have done more this time? I have my doubts since he missed his father’s wisdom for years. That’s what I mean with “more luck than judgement”.

It’s time for the summary: The relationship between Arthur and his knights bases on a strange and naive understanding of loyalty and trust. I would rather call it blind obedience. Real trust and loyalty should include the possibility to say the own beliefs and opinions freely. Is it a coincidence that Arthur chose Leon as his right hand? Both of them persecuted and slaughtered druids and other sorcerers in Uther’s name. Guilt can be a stronger bond than vows and expressions of loyalty.


	8. Gwen and Arthur – the perfect example of true love?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! I’m back with a very special pair for you – Gwen and Arthur. I know there were some doubts and questions about this couple after my chapter “Gwen and the men”. I hope you will enjoy it!

I did already say that Gwen-chapters are really tricky for me. Not just because of her limited connection to other characters, but also because of her split personality in Gwen and Queen Guinevere Pendragon. I cannot bring myself to say something positive about her second personality. That alone is no problem, since villains have a special charm and are more interesting and funny (my personal opinion). But the Queen is mostly a royal snob without any personality. Sorry Gwen-fans. However, I decided to focus on the direct relationship between Gwen and Arthur.

 

**How the hell did Gwen and Arthur become a couple?**

I know the question sounds very wicked. It’s almost like saying I grudge them their happiness. But seriously, who would think that these two characters would become a couple without knowing their names and the legend? The preconditions for this specific couple were disastrous, especially in the Middle Ages. But even in Camelot, a world of magic and legends, those things do not happen usually.

It is very important to realize that the social difference between a servant and a crown prince is not the real issue in their relationship. Who does really care about it? Yes, Uther does not accept it, but he was too blind and stupid to realize how many sorcerers (e.g. Morgana and Merlin) lived in Camelot all of the time. He did learn about the relationship between Gwen and Arthur just because Morgana really spelled it out for him. I do also believe that Morgana wouldn’t have had an issue with them unless Arthur behaved Uther-like when it comes to the magic topic. Did anyone of the nobles or the citizens of Camelot ever question the relationship between their precious prince and the servant? No! This is especially noticeable since their relationship was not really a secret.

Therefore, it’s fair to ask, who is actually against the relationship between them. I dare to say that Arthur and Gwen are the most serious danger for their own relationship. Gwen and Arthur did several things to boycott and sabotage each other. Both have different `avocations´. Very good examples are Gwen’s long-lasting relationship with Lancelot and the short affairs with Gwaine and Merlin. It is especially noticeable that all these male acquaintance are good friends and partners of Arthur. Who would do this to the person he/she loves?

However, Gwen is not the only one, who is actively `pushing´ the relationship. Arthur proves his love for Gwen quite wordy. Do you want to listen to Casanova Pendragon? This is a special gift for all my female fans: „Guinevere, I... want you to know that your job is safe and that your home is yours for life.” Do you feel comforted by this, considering that your father has been murdered a few hours ago (`To Kill the King´ (S01 E12))? No? Arthur is not ready yet: “I guarantee you that.” Well ladies, who wants to give prince Arthur a big kiss? Are you not convinced by Arthur’s guarantee? Maybe, it’s because you know of the worth of Arthur’s promises when it comes to daddy/commander Uther.

Okay, this was enough `love´ for the first question. Do you feel happy and satisfied when you think about Gwen and Arthur coming together as the ideal image of a loving couple?

 

**What do they have in common, when they are not really sure about their own relationship?**

The result of the first question was that Gwen and Arthur tend to boycott their own relationship. They do even have flirts with the best friends of each other. But is all of this really meant to avoid an open discussion? Are they just too much coward to stand up for what they believe? Actually I don’t know what to think about the relationship, especially in the first seasons. In some moments they run away from each other and in other moments they fawn on each other like rutting animals. What the hell is so complicated about a simple talk or independent thinking? I know love is blind, but does it have to be a sickness? Okay, yes it can be a sickness, a sickness of the common sense and the brain. Nevertheless, it was very annoying to see that our two love birdies could not come to a final result.

Therefore I want to know what is so loveable on Gwen and vice versa. Let’s start with Arthur’s side, since he is the crown prince and has more choice. People say that men choose women, who are similar to their mothers. I do love my mother, but I don’t want to live with her forever, not to mention the other things that people do with their girlfriends and wives. But what about Arthur he could be different, especially since he had no mother? This would mean that Gwen is like Arthur’s surrogate mother.

It’s quite obvious that mummy should be the complete opposite of daddy. Mummy Gwen is caring and loving person, she listens to her son, etc., etc. It would be too boring to write a complete list of Uther’s fatherly errors and weaknesses. The idea of Gwen as Arthur’s surrogate mother/girlfriend might sound ridiculous on the first view, but it becomes more believable considering the evolution of their relationship. It starts rolling when Arthur goes to Gwen for support and advice regularly. I like to say that Gwen started to mother Arthur in some way. Moreover she did something completely unexpected and selfless, when she nursed Arthur’s father, after his mental breakdown. Arthur’s surrogate mother cares for his father. Isn’t this the perfect family and dream of every man? Of course, there is absolutely no doubt that Gwen is acting selflessly and without any hidden agenda.

By the way, these speculations about Arthur’s dream of a mother/wife can be used to answer the question about a possible relationship between Arthur and Morgana, too. Who wants to have a girlfriend/wife, who tells you that you are an idiot most of the time? Who wants to have a girlfriend/wife, who is your moral compass? Who wants to have a girlfriend/wife, who tells you that your idolized father is a tyrant? Not Arthur.

Okay we have established an image of Arthur’s ideal wife, but what is about Gwen? What is so attracting about Arthur? I admit that we touched this topic in the third chapter of this fanfiction. The result consisted of two parts. Part one was that Gwen is not really sure about her dream man. The second part was that Gwen is a girl with dreams of little girls: `I want to have my knight in shining armor.´ Therefore I don’t want to discuss this topic in detail.

Instead of this I am going to cite Gwen when she is being questioned about her betrayal with Lancelot: “All I have ever wanted is to be your queen.” (`Lancelot du Lac´ (S04 E09)). This statement deserves a special appreciation. Gwen said she wanted to be Arthur’s queen. She did NOT say that she wanted to be with him or she wanted to be his wife. But most important, she did NOT say I LOVE YOU - What the hell is so hard about these three word!? You might even think that only one word matters from Gwen's POV - `queen´. Is it too wicked of me to say such things about the perfect queen of Camelot? It doesn’t matter at the end, when the knights are shouting: “Long life the queen!” Therefore it’s fair to say that Gwen’s wish was fulfilled at the end of the show.

However, we have established that the relationship between Gwen and Arthur has significant advantages for both of them. Both of them get what they want most. Nevertheless they boycotted it actively. But why do they do so? What is the actual problem with Gwen and Arthur?

 

**Why has it to be an On-Off relationship, like Romeo and Juliet?**

I did already say that the social difference between Gwen and Arthur is no actual reason to keep them apart for so long. In some ways it reminds me of the Romeo and Juliet story, although there is no one except Uther, who is against their relationship. I did also say that Uther was a blind idiot most of the time and after season three he was just a broken man. That means there is almost no external influence that speaks against a relationship between Gwen and Arthur. There was never a risk of a civil war or something like this. Therefore it is time to discuss the crucial question, about the actual reason for the annoying delaying and hesitating. Is it possible that our dream couple is not as much in love as it seems to be? Would Gwen be happier with Lancelot by her side? I know these are some very wicked questions and speculations. But there are some hints that could support the idea of a slightly unhappy love. The first hints can be the own attempts of boycott (e.g. flirting with Lancelot, Gwaine,…).

But I like to discuss a special statement of Gwen that could cause some doubts about the perfect love: “I trust you Arthur. More than Uther, more than any man.” These are two very interesting sentences, which I want to discuss step by step to appreciate the unconditional love in it. The first part is: “I trust you Arthur. More than Uther…”. Say it again? She trusts Arthur more than the man, who murdered her own father and sentenced her to death twice. Err… yes I can almost feel the love. Does anyone know a better prove of trust and love? Okay, this might be a little wicked of me.

Neither Arthur nor Gwen should be a model of romance and love. After all, the story about Arthur, Guinevere, the Knights of Camelot, etc. is not known as a love story, but rather a legend of betrayal, hurt and tragedy. Therefore I don’t want to be too fussy. Let’s talk about the second part of Gwen’s statement: “…more than any men”. What is about women? There’s no law against asking. Gwen could have said something like: “I trust you more than anyone else.” It is not my intention to marry Gwen off to Morgana. The statement could also mean that men are untrustworthy. Some readers might say that those speculations are far-fetched. You are totally right about this, but it is not my fault that there are many of those ambiguous statements in the show. There is only one character, who is going his way without any doubts: Emrys/Merlin. It is just too stupid that his way ends in the catastrophe for everyone.

What is Merlin’s role in the relationship between Gwen and Arthur? He reassures her that Arthur will love her, 'warts and farts and all'. He supports the relationship actively and Gwen admits to him that she is in love with Arthur. But Gwen did never have an issue to admit her love for Lancelot, although the relationship to a knight was as much probable as the relationship to the king. Actually a relationship between servant and king is more probable, if the king really interested in it, which is surely true in Arthur’s case. It wouldn’t be the only king who has an affair with a woman from the mob. (I did not say anything about Henry the 8th and Anne Boleyn, but it’s an interesting example.)

However, some people might say that the relationship between Gwen and Arthur is a result of pressure from Merlin’s side. It is very much possible that Gwen would have been happily married to Lancelot without him. Did Merlin play destiny once again? I think he is capable of doing so. We do know that he is ready to do everything for his personal understanding of destiny and prophecy.

 

**Gwen and Arthur – who wears the breeches?**

Of course this is a metaphorical question, since Gwen did never wear pants or something like this. The Middle Ages was not a time of emancipation even in Camelot (Morgana wore pants.). Therefore no further delay, who says what to do in the relationship between Gwen and Arthur? The classical order would be the king comes first, but I like to believe that Queen Guinevere is their marriage, although it is not visible for outsiders. She has just more brain than Arthur, who spends a good amount of his time with joking and teasing Merlin. It’s also quite interesting and symbolic to have a closer look at their personal and private way to talk with each other. Unlike most people Arthur usually called Gwen by her full name. I don’t know your opinion, but it’s a strange way to prove love and intimacy.

However, I want to finish this chapter with another ambiguous statement of Gwen: “I will watch you to going to the king that Camelot deserves.” (`The Changeling´ (S03 E06)). What did she mean by this? Why is she not using some of Merlin’s phrases: “You are going to be the greatest king ever.”? What kind of king does Camelot actually deserve?


	9. Mama Morgana and her babies, Aithusa and Mordred

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have started to like the concept of an extended definition of pairs. There is more dynamic in it and the relationships become more complex and funny. Just think about a triangle relationship. Therefore, I will use this concept more regularly. At the beginning it was just an act of desperation, but not anymore. This is one of these chapters.

Nice title, isn’t it? This part of Morgana’s personality is especially interesting, because it is completely contrary to the concept of the mad and evil witch. I do agree with people, who think that the fifth season was really bad and the show should have ended after season four. Nevertheless there are some really good scenes in the fifth season, which can be a basis for discussions and speculations. The triangle relationship between Morgana, Mordred and Aithusa is one of these things. To be fair it is no real triangle, since there is almost no interaction between Mordred and Aithusa. The key figure of the relationship is Morgana.

 

**How can Morgana be a loving mother and an evil witch at the same time?**

This question is a provocation itself, since it is actual wrong. Morgana was never a biological mother and of course she is not the mother of Aithusa and Mordred. Despite of this I think it is still fair to call her mother, because she takes the role of a mother for both of them. It is pretty much the same with Gaius, he is not Merlin’s real father but he behaves so.

However, the crucial question concerns Morgana’s mental state during her years with Aithusa and the grown Mordred. Just say it directly: her insanity. How can it be that one single person behaves be so differently? On the one side she is the crazy, hateful and obsessed witch and on the other side she is the caring and loving mother. That is just not fitting with the stereotype of the purely evil witch. How can she kill enemies with a malicious smirk just to turn around and pet Aithusa with a motherly smile on her face?

Is it just a kind of acting? Err… maybe. There is no doubt that Morgana is a great actress, but the same is true for Merlin. He wouldn’t have survived so long in Camelot. Moreover, he became the friend and advisor of the king and all this despite of his magic identity. Nevertheless I cannot imagine Merlin reading bedtime stories for Arthur and holding the hand of his royal pratness. It might be a cool picture, but Merlin has no time for being a father figure. He has to kill all these annoying magic users around Camelot. A destiny can be a fulltime job after all.

Back to the topic, how can Morgana switch between a mother and an evil witch? Let’s try a completely new approach to answer this question. At first we have to realize that Morgana has no reason to act in season five. She is already well-known as the witch and public enemy. But the most important point in her behavior is the fact that no mother has to be ashamed of protecting for her young – and guy you don’t want to deal with mama Morgana. I know that sounds like writing about mother bear and animal world, but I believe it is very fitting for the way Morgana understands life. You have to follow your instincts, if the entire world is evil and wants you dead.

It’s quite ironic, that the person who showed most humanity and compassion in the first seasons became the incarnation of evilness at the end of the show. Maybe, it is a statement about fulfilling the prophecy. However, I don’t think that Baby Aithusa would agree with this. From her point of view, there was only one Mama who cared for her and loved her and all this happened under really crappy conditions. I don’t want to think about the way how Camelot’s allies treat little dragon babies. It’s a possibility to give free rein to someone’s hate for magic. I guess most of us agree that Morgana’s love and affection for Aithusa and Mordred were real and no kind of acting. Nevertheless the main question is still open for discussions. How can we fix the disagreement between the mother and the witch? I might sound strange, but is it possible that the image of Morgana as the evil witch was just a misunderstanding?

Let’s be serious, how many good sorcerers and magic people do exist in Camelot? Only one, Merlin is the hero and savior. What remains after neglecting Merlin’s story about `I am destined to save the world.´? What would be Camelot’s reaction to a constantly lying sorcerer? Stake? Exile? Camelot’s understanding says that every sorcerer is evil by definition. The same is true for Merlin, just the exception of himself. He is a warlock and no ordinary sorcerer. This would be an ideal time for a statement about Merlin’s ego, but it would be far too simple. Therefore we can try to see the world from another point of view: Morgana is not the evil witch, she is just no fan of Camelot. (Can anyone blame her?) What is the result of this thought experiment? Passion, the will and conviction to do everything for what you believe to be right and damn on the consequences. Does this sound familiar to somebody? Yes, this is the Morgana from the first seasons.

 

**What is Morgana’s, Mordred’s and Aithusa’s understanding of loyalty?**

Yeah, yeah, the lovely topic loyalty is something like a recurring boomerang. We had a detailed discussion about this in the sixth chapter about Arthur and his knights. The result was quite disappointing or should I say expectable. Their understanding of loyalty bases on blind obedience. What is about Morgana and her babies? Morgana said a very famous sentence about this topic: “Don’t think I don’t understand loyalty just because I have no one left to be loyal to.”

Well the relationship between Aithusa and Morgana is quite simple. Aithusa heals Morgana -> Morgana stays with Aithusa and cares for her -> Aithusa helps Morgana, although her dragonlord/father yells contrary commands all of the time. It is as I said quite simple. You could say they follow the moto: `What goes around, comes around´. But a closer look reveals that the relationship is a little more complex. Who do they have to be loyal to? Nobody. Therefore, it might be more fitting to call it `misery loves company´ and these two are real experts in this topic. What did the Sarrum say? “Her (Morgana’s) love for that creature made her suffer more than she ever thought possible.”

Okay the Aithusa part is clear, but what is about Mordred? At the beginning it is pretty much the same as for Aithusa, Morgana protects him in Camelot and he protects her in the druid camp. But this simple relationship changes over time. Mordred has established a different understanding of loyalty. At first he stab Mama in the back (Arthur’s Bane 2 (S05 E02)) and attacks her magically at the next possible moment. But it’s even getting better with Mordred’s prove of loyalty and friendship. He says: “I hope that one day you will find the love and compassion that used to fill your heart.” (`With all my Heart´ (S05 E09)). Yes, killing someone is definitely a way to find love. Some people could say that baby Mordred has grown up, but does that really mean he has to use his pubertal energies in this way? Conflicts between parents and their children are a normal thing, but two attempts to murder your own mother is a little extreme, isn’t it? Moreover, he does this to join a stupid gang with red capes. Come on Mama, it’s high time to pull your boy by his ears!

That brings us to an interesting point which is not really discussed in the show. Did Morgana really appreciate that Mordred has grown up? She might say something about „…my most trusted knight…“, but I am not really sure about it. Maybe, it’s just normal for mothers to care for their boys, although they have moved out long time ago. However, we all know the final result: son dead -> mama went totally insane -> mama dead -> (almost) everyone dead. A really disappointing result for the greatest prophecy ever. But who is to blame for this? I mean we all know the Merlin protects Arthur part of the prophecy, but what is about the Morgana becomes a substitute mother part?

 

**Who did pair Morgana up with her babies?**

Originally this is just meant to be a very short interposed question, but it came a little longer. Nevertheless, I will come to the question without further prose. Where is daddy? If Morgana is the substitute mother we need a substitute father as well. It’s quite obvious that I refer to Merlin as Aithusa’s dragonlord. Hey, nobody said something about mama and daddy living together. Our substitute parents are obviously … err… let’s call it `divorced´. Actually, Merlin is Aithusa’s real daddy, since he hatched her. So, where is our hero? Good question, damn good question. Moreover, the question is getting even funnier and more interesting if we consider Mordred’s first appearance in Camelot. His father is killed by Camelot and Mordred is an orphan in a dangerous and deadly surrounding. Time to look for a substitute mother and father. It is a funny and telling incidence that the relationships between Mordred and Morgana on the one side and Aithusa and Morgana on the other side were formed in a very similar way. Morgana came across a baby/small child, which is in danger and or lonely. Okay, the term `came across´ is not really fitting. It’s more accurate to say she was pushed by Merlin.

However, Aithusa and Mordred meet Morgana and find shelter with her. From Morgana’s point of view it is especially important that neither Aithusa nor Mordred reject her because of her magic. Morgana can behave more open and without pretending around both of them which is the complete opposite of her life in Camelot. No wonder she adopts our little babies and protects them regardless of the consequences for herself or others. Is all of this just a coincidence? I don’t think so, especially since there are even more coincidences. Who was the adoption agent in both cases? Bingo Merlin. Our hero with the fulltime job as savior of the world has a talent to find and/or cause foundlings and orphans just to drop them on Morgana’s doorstep. Indeed, a true hero. Wait! Maybe, this is not as heartless as it seems to be. Maybe this was part of Merlin’s masterplan to keep his nemesis occupied? Does this sound any better? Not really. Still an idiot. But this is Camelot, a place of myths and magic – or should I call it karma? I did already mention the phrase `what goes around, comes around´ and is also true here. Merlin’s great `plan´ turns out to be a fire-spitting dragon and an angry magic knight to Morgana’s side. Karma?

 

**Was Aithusa supposed to be with Morgana?**

I can almost hear how all Merlin-fans are shouting: NO! Aithusa is the `Light of the Sun´ after all and Kilgharrah said that: “The white dragon bodes well for Albion, for you and Arthur, and for the land you will build together.” How the hell could it be possible that Aithusa was supposed to be with Morgana? Well, the prophecy did also say something about peace, freedom, return of magic, etc. I haven’t seen anything of this. Therefore, I give a damn shit on the entire prophecy stuff.

Nevertheless, the question is still quite provoking. Why should the `Light of the Sun´ belong to the prophesied epitome of darkness? What possibilities do exist for a planned adoption of Aithusa?

  * Retributive justice: The story would have been quite boring and one-sided otherwise; the most powerful sorcerer ever + 2 dragons & Camelot’s army against one single evil witch is not really interesting not to mention far away from a legend.
  * Relief for Merlin: Merlin is already occupied by his fulltime job as savior of the world and protector of Arthur. He just has no time for Aithusa.
  * Save Aithusa: The daddy and dragonlord is too busy to care for her; the planned mentor (Kilgharrah) is… a problem. I have a very bad feeling to think about this vengeful and manipulative lizard teaching poor and Aithusa baby.



What do you think about these three possibilities? Is it possible that destiny wanted Aithusa and Morgana meeting each other? I prefer a fourth possibility, which unites the first three ones.

What if there was an additional part of the prophecy that Merlin had to fail/misunderstood his destiny? Was it his destiny to become a magic bodyguard and weapon, instead of someone, who actually helps Arthur to free magic, achieve peace, etc.? Well loyal (I truly like this word) followers of my fics know that I hate the idea of a destiny, prophecy said in stone. Therefore I want to say it in another way. What if Merlin caused all of this due to his obsession of destiny and prophecy?

Just think about the episode `The Crystal Cave´ (S03 E05). I guess some of you would agree that Merlin unwillingly pushed Aithusa and Mordred to Morgana. I tend to believe that these actions caused a counterbalance to Merlin’s obsession and prevented an even worse end. Even worse? Yes, it could have been worse. At least a few people survived the end of the show. Moreover some of them have magic. I am not a fan of Queen Guinevere Pendragon, but what if I am wrong about her? What if she became fair and wise somehow and made everything fine? This would be far better than the possible ending of Merlin’s obsession. Arthur and Merlin/Emrys survived. Who else? Doesn’t matter as long as Arthur lives -> destiny fulfilled.


	10. Merlin and Gwaine – bros but not trusting each other?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! I had a crazy idea last week and found a possibility to check Merlin’s suitability as Emrys. How often did Merlin save Arthur within the first three seasons? I counted it and the result is that he saved Arthur 12 times. You might think that is normal, because it is his destiny. But here comes the big surprise: Merlin saved Uther 13 times. I would call it “DESTINY FAILED!!!
> 
> Additionally, I thought we could play a little game (copy from Morgana). There is a very important word hidden in this chapter and it is your job to find it.  
> On your marks, get set, go!

Well, what can we say about Merlin’s best friend? Any ideas? Wait there is already a question within this first sentence. Is Gwaine truly Merlin’s best friend? Oh I can already see so many nice contradictions on the horizon. I guess this unavoidable for two people, who want to be friends, although both have a tendency to lie or to pretend to be someone different. At the end nobody knows the actual truth.

 

**Who is Merlin’s best friend and bro: Arthur or Gwaine?**

Okay this is the first question and contradiction of this chapter. Who are better friends Merlin and Gwaine or Merlin and Arthur? At least it is quite simple from Gwaine’s point of view. I guess we should ask him directly.

Merlin: “Why do you want to do this?”

Gwaine: “Same reason as you. To help a friend.”

Merlin: “Arthur’s lucky to have us.”

Gwaine: “Not Arthur.”

Seems we have found the answer. It's Merlin and Gwaine, isn't it?

What is about Merlin? If you look at these two (especially in the first seasons) you cannot avoid the feeling that their relationship is much closer than the relationship between prince prat and his idiot of a servant.

It’s quite funny that Gwaine and Merlin share the same hobby: to bitch about blue blood and nobles. Stop! Why are they doing this, although they are not so far away from being a noble themselves? Another contradiction.

Yes of course, the great king Arthur is the epitome of a blue blood, but Gwaine has a secret identity as son of a knight and Merlin has a secret identity as Emrys, which can be translated by king of the druids – at least from Merlin’s point of view. This is actually the first similarity between our best friends. Both of them have a `secret´ identity.

But how can we make a fair and final decision? Who are better friends Gwaine-Merlin or Arthur-Merlin? What a stupid question! There is only one way to decide – bar fighting. Imagine following typical and realistic situation in Camelot of the Middle Ages:

You are in a tavern with your bro and you had a few Ales and the innkeeper believes you were trying to look down his daughter’s dress. Who would you prefer at your side right now – Gwaine or Arthur?

I guess we know the answer, but Arthur’s role in this `triangle relationship´ is definitely worth to be a separate question.

 

**What the hell do Merlin and Gwaine have in common, although Arthur has to come first all of the time?**

This is actually a very good question. Up to now we find several contradictions and only one similarity – laughing at Arthur. I guess the most obvious thing would be the disapprobation of Uther. But not even this is actually true.

Just look at Gwaine’s reaction on Uther. He showed his defiant streak and refusal to bow to authority by criticizing Uther Pendragon in front of Arthur. The `in front´ part is very important.

And what is Merlin's reaction on Uther? “Arthur’s thanking me, Uther’s grateful, you’re proud, I’ve never been this popular.” This is what Merlin said to Gaius. Can you see the order in this statement? Arthur, Uther and Gaius are equally important to him and we all know that Merlin is going to be obsessed of Arthur. Okay yes, this not really fair, but nobody can deny that Merlin would never refuse Uther openly. He needs a disguise and a long white beard to stand up for what he believes to be right.

It’s just too stupid that the feeling of trust is not mutual. An example is the final of season three. Merlin shows implicit trust towards Gwaine, informing him of Arthur and Merlin’s quest to find the Cup of Life, although it was a secret mission and Arthur protests.

Life isn’t easy if you want to have friends and to suck up to his royal pratness at the same time. The prat has to become the Once and Future King after all.

In summary, it is really hard to find similarities between the two bros – Gwaine and Merlin, when it comes to Arthur. The most obvious point seems to be their desire to sacrifice their life for the perfect king. That is a nasty habit of almost everyone in Camelot. But what is the reason?

Who is responsible for all the knights and inhabitants of Camelot, who are willing to bite the dust for their king? I have a crazy theory. There is only one person, who has access and trust of all people in Camelot. Is it possible that Dr. Gaius is behind this? I mean it’s quite simple: calcium is good for the bones, magnesium is good for the muscles, vitamin is good for the health and some suicidal knights are good for the king. Isn’t it a great job to be the dietary adviser of the court?

 

**Why is Gwaine not aware of Merlin’s magic, although they are supposed to be the perfect bros?**

This the ultimate question, at least from my personal point of view. Why does Merlin not tell Gwaine of all people about his magic?

In some moments you could almost get the feeling that Merlin peddles his potentially deadly secret around in Camelot. There are so many strangers, who know about Merlin. But it is not just about the actual number of persons. It is mainly about the point of time, when Merlin tells them. Here are some examples to remind you of Merlin the `secretmonger´:

Gaius: almost 5 minutes after his arrival in the physician’s chamber, although a sorcerer (Thomas Collin) has been executed for having magic in front of his eyes.

Lancelot: about one day after Lancelot’s arrival; but hey it was just an `accident´

Freya: make eyes at Merlin and he shows her his magic and questions his destiny immediately

Gilli: Merlin knows nothing about him, but tells him everything, although Gilli was just another `evil sorcerer´, who fights against Uther and could have very well betrayed Merlin to Uther

Well, the conclusion seems obvious: Gwaine is as trustworthy as Morgana (or Arthur) - at least from Merlin's POV.

But this is not just about Merlin's ... err ... Shall we call it `prove of friendship´? It is more about Merlin’s way to handle magic, which is more than reckless. Who was almost burned at the stake because of Merlin playing with magic in the episode `The Witchfinder´ (S02 E07)? Merlin did this, although he was fully aware of the possible consequences?

But what is about Gwaine's attitude to magic? He is not one of these typical knights, because he is no loyal follower of Camelot's magic-hating sect. Moreover Gwaine is illegally showing some respect for magic and (Attention! This is the crucial part) Gwaine was shown to have a fairly extensive knowledge of magic, although he cannot use magic himself and is totally loyal to Camelot. This was shown in his recognizing and telling Merlin the creatures in the distance were Wyvern. You have to read this twice to understand the sensational meaning. A KNIGHT OF CAMELOT KNOWS MORE ABOUT MAGIC THAN THE GREAT AND ALMIGHTY EMRYS. Wow! How can we understand this? But the more crucial question is: Why did Merlin not tell Gwaine about his magic, although he would have surely accepted him? They are much closer than Arthur and Merlin, not to mention Freya, Gilli, Lancelot, etc.? Indeed, a statement of trust and friendship?!

 

**How do women fit into the relationship between Merlin and Gwaine?**

The question might be a little provoking but it could help us to understand the relationship between Merlin and Gwaine. Gwaine has nothing but fighting, Ale and women on his mind – at least he pretends to be this way. Merlin, on the other side, becomes more and more obsessed of Arthur. This is also a fitting statement about his sex life. Emrys has no time for sex. Shall we feel pity for him?

I guess this is just another point, where our bros have nothing in common – at least on the surface. The physical attraction between Gwaine and Morgana was very obvious. Wasn’t it nice from Merlin to leave his ex-girlfriend to his bro? That brings us to another interesting question.

Why do these guys constantly flirting with this special kind of women (Morgana, Freya, Eira), although these women are magic users or support magic users? Is this even allowed for loyal followers of Camelot? At least they behave correctly when it comes to terminate a relationship. These witches and sympathizer will bite the dust. Does this indicate another contradiction?

Merlin and Gwaine work, fight and (Attention: very important) kill for a regime of repression, persecution, murdering and torturing allies (Sarrum), etc. although they pretend to refuse those ways of ruling. But this is okay. You can always blame someone else. Sounds strangely familiar. Is there someone doing this too? I spare you the answer. The list would be far too long. Maybe, it’s shorter to answer a little different question? Who did not blame others for his/her own actions? Well, I guess this worked. The list is completely empty.

 

**Why does the relationship between servant Merlin and Sir Gwaine change after the knighting ceremony, although Gwaine pretends to hate nobles and titles?**

This part of Merlin’s and Gwaine’s friendship is very interesting. What influence does the knighting ceremony actually have? There are two bros, who make jokes on Arthur.

But one of these brose became knighted and this changes a lot. Two bros become two friends, but the basis for their friendship differs, although Gwaine did always pretend to hate nobles and titles. The same is true for Merlin. But Sir Gwaine prefers to make jokes at Merlin’s expense. Do we know this? Yes we do, Arthur is doing the same all of the time. Merlin is a servant after all. I guess our two perfect bros have become a triangle relationship, but with different orders. It’s really a shame that this new kind of friendship bases on one motto `Arthur comes first´.

I admit this sounds a little like blaming Gwaine for everything, although Merlin makes his own contribution to this `more relaxed´ understanding of friendship. We have to consider that Gwaine was not the only one, who has been moved up, although he is not allowed to command others in Camelot and to wear these nice red capes. Merlin is becoming Emrys `the king of the druids´. You could say that the friendship is somehow another victim of Merlin’s destiny. Good by my friend, good by Gwaine!

 

**Is it possible that powers and titles go to sb. head - Sir Gwaine and Emrys?**

I know this is a wicked question – or should I say an Andre-like question? (I guess my own fic goes to my head.) However, the question is unavoidable.

I guess the easiest thing would be to ask Gwaine himself. Shall we do this? “And that's Sir Gwaine to you!” That’s quite clear, isn’t it? It bears repeating to say that this comes from Gwaine, although he pretends to hate nobles and titles all of the time. And what is about Merlin?

The answer is even simpler. Emrys!

 

And the moral of this story? I guess it is just about two bros with ups and downs. Friendships can be strange, it can be close, it can become more loose or it can break, for instance if you have an affair with the ex of your friend. I guess this is a lesson that Merlin and Gwaine have to learn themselves. But this is very much true for every character.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, did you find the mysterious word? It is `although´. It was written 17-times in one single chapter. Is this surprising? There are quite a lot of contradictions for some guys, who are supposed to be the perfect bros. Could it be caused by their focusing on this blond blue-blooded guy?


	11. Arthur and Merlin – dream team or nightmare?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I want to thank you. This fic has already more clicks than the first one (with 13 chapters). So, I dare to say that I'm not the only one, who has `tiny´ issues with the normal idea of heroes and villains - characters are cooler.   
> Today it is time for the ultimate and perfect dream team of Camelot: Arthur and Merlin. The pair of the prophesized king and his sorcerer is so full of promises, which we have all waited for, since the beginning of the show.

So Arthur and Merlin, do you already feel the overwhelming unity and similarities between them? Do you feel the pleasant anticipation for the coming salvation, the peace and the freedom? No? Me too. I have a stupid feeling that something bad will happen with or because of our dream team. The prophesized dream has been delayed for almost ten years. It’s like never waking up and this would be like a true nightmare instead of a happy ending.

 

**Prince and servant, friend and brothers, king and bodyguard, Uther’s son and sorcerer, … What kind of relationship do they have?**

Okay guys, how can I describe the relationship between our heroes? They were hardly the supposed dream team at the beginning of the show. There was a lot of reluctance between them, which is not very surprising for an arrogant prince of a magic-hating kingdom and a peasant sorcerer from a small village. Both of them had to be forced to work together by Uther on the one side and Kilgharrah on the other side. I have previously said that I like characters pushed out of the comfort zone, because it gives additional dynamics, emotion, etc. It can lead to a better outcome for both sides. From that point, it seems to be a good idea to force magic and magic haters into some kind of `truce´. But!!! I fear those, who forced this alliance – Uther and the dragon, a really strange alliance.

You could say that our perfect dream team is formed by a very special team of nightmares. I don’t know your opinion, but I wouldn’t call this `good starting conditions´.

“You belong at Arthur’s side. I’ve seen how much he needs you. How much you need him. You’re like two sides of the same coin.” This is a citation from Hunith (not the manipulating lizard). I admit that she is right about this. But why is it so? Does Arthur, a grown-up man, really need someone to dress him? Does Merlin need someone to tell him that he is a useless and clumps servant? Err… I don’t want to answer these two questions.

However, it is still amazing to observe these two guys, who have so different positions and preconditions. What brings them together? Which force unites them? There is a sorcerer on the one side. This sorcerer is afraid of being a sorcerer, but plays with his magic, because his magic-hating friend will make everything right for sorcerers. Err… yes. Indeed, very convincing. There is a prince on the other side. The prince tries to equal his father, when this father does not acknowledge him in any way. Moreover, this is a father he does not want to be compared to because of his father’s sins but seems the father as is his hero, because the wisdom and strength. Does somebody feel confused? Me too.

To be honest I have no idea how to call our dream team correctly, because of their constant flip-flopping and their unwillingness to decide for one side. They are friends in the morning that you could get the feeling they share a brotherly relationship, almost like Gwen and Morgana (in the first seasons), but behave like servant and master in the evening.

I gave up on my attempts to understand them at some point of time. The only thing that I can say for sure is that they need each other, although they get on each other’s nerves. Just think about the scene, when Camelot was recaptured by Morgana and Helios, Arthur lost his faith and believed himself unworthy of the role as King. But Merlin helped restore his faith by convincing Arthur to draw Excalibur out of the rock. That is somehow the basic of their relationship and I cannot describe it otherwise: Arthur has a groupie. Btw. did anyone think that this entire drawing a sword out of stone theme was a little … err … magic. Yep, it was screamingly obvious… except for a king and his magic-hating knights. But hey it’s just another example of logic – or should I say Arthur using magic for his own advantage?

 

**An idiot and a prat to save the world – what a pair?**

“Prat”, “idiot”, “dollophead”, “clotpole”, “…spoilt arrogant brat”, etc. etc. This is a tiny collection of nicknames and proves of friendship for each other. Can you already see it? These two are going to save the world and every person will feel the overwhelming love ... Shout hallelujah and Yippee!!! You don’t want to? Why? Well, it doesn’t really matter. It is not so important since Arthur and Merlin are destined for it and you are not part of this destiny. The simple truth is that they don’t need you. Stop! Did we just realize that a TV show does not need fans and viewers, who hope to see that Golden Age that was promised over years? But what kind viewers did not want to see the love, peace and harmony? BBC must be truly rich when producing a show for years that nobody is expected to watch.

However, it is really hard to think about them as a serious team, not to mention a dream team. Fans of Arthur and Merlin like to call it brotherly teasing, but it is really hard to see it this way since these teasing are too regularly and naturally for encouragements from time to time. I have a brother too, but we tend to greet each other with “hello” instead of “hey idiot”.

Therefore, it’s fair to doubt and question our dream team. Are our two heroes capable of working together in a team, not to mention a dream team? This question is really crucial. Our supposed dream team has to be an actual team before saving the world. I checked the word `team´ in several encyclopedias. Of course, there are different definitions, but a few words are usually used to describe a `team´: together, cooperate, the same aims, … This seems to be obvious, but it is in a big contrast to our `brothers´. They tend to lie and act behind the back of each other, especially for Merlin. It is really hard for me to find a common aim that unites both of them. Merlin’s main aim is quite obvious: Arthur has to survive, whatever the cost.

But what is Arthur’s opinion about this entire `team thing´? Well, he is often talking something like this: “I swear I’m going to rescue my men or die trying.” Yeah, Arthur is the perfect hero, who jumps into any battle utterly fearless (or suicidal) and without thinking about it. But this is the complete opposite to Merlin’s aim. This is only one point where the idea of a team with a common aim does not work at all. But hey, I think I have an idea. Here are some citations from Merlin: “I willingly give my life for Arthur’s.”, “Then I swear I will protect you or die at your side.”

Yay! I got it. Our team has a common aim - to bite the ground. Hero or not, but I want someone to save me (maybe the rest of the world too). Sorry bros but I will look for another savior - someone who might actually survive this shit.

It might not be fully satisfying, but it is definitely true. Arthur and Merlin are `our´ team now. Nevertheless, the aim is somehow… God have mercy! Poor Camelot. The final result of the show is even more obvious and predictable now.

 

**How can you trust someone you don’t really know?**

Well, our team does not fulfill my personal understanding of a dream team, but this doesn’t matter at the moment. They are a team after all and the villains will not wait for them to clear their issues. It is not yet my intention to submit an application for the job as major villain, but it can’t be too hard to beat those heroes, especially since the heroes doubt themselves. This is a message to all useless idiots and arrogant prats out there: Do not hide yourself! Don’t be shy, you are not alone. You are part of a (dream) team and your partner will not to burn you at the stake or place you in the stocks. Maybe. Who knows?

Is this the actual problem? Does Merlin not trust his best friend and prophesized partner enough? At least not enough to reveal his true identity as a sorcerer and the incarnation of magic itself. The typical excuse of Arthur is not yet ready is so old. It almost has a long, white beard itself. Arthur is king, he has the unconditional support of everyone in Camelot, there is no legal bond to Uther anymore (Arthur’s mental bond to Uther is a complete different story). What is Merlin waiting for? The only possible explanation is that the prophesized protector and advisor (Merlin) does not trust the prophesized king and savior (Arthur).

This might be a hard statement, but the preconditions for the promised stuff about peace and freedom could be even worse. I am talking about the question if Merlin trusts himself? To be honest I have my doubts about this. Is it a coincidence that our hero tends to stay in the background as Arthur’s servant? Is it a coincidence that he stays loyal to Camelot’s attitude to magic and stays hostile to everything concerning this topic? Is there any plausible reason for the greatest sorcerer ever to refuse magic? Merlin says it himself: “I have fought griffins, witches, bandits, I have been punched, poisoned, pelted with fruit and all the while I have to hide who I really am because if anyone finds out Uther will have me executed, sometimes I feel as though I’m being pulled in so many directions I don't know which way to turn!” You could say that one side of our supposed dream team failed my little test of personality. He rather looks like an unsure and hesitating child than a true hero. Too bad.

However, we have a second try with the other half of the team. Let’s check on Arthur, the proud and great king with the support of the whole population of Camelot, a loving queen, an all-mighty sorcerer/servant and the strongest army in the five kingdoms. Can you imagine better preconditions for a newly crowned king? Hardly. It’s just too stupid that Arthur wastes most of his time mourn daddy’s wisdom instead of making own decisions. But it’s getting even worse, whenever someone dares to talk to him about this topic. The response is always the same: “You cannot blame me for my father’s sins.”

Oh, come on Arthur you can do better than this. You could place a puppet on the throne otherwise. At least it would be visible to everyone that something else is holding the reins. Under normal conditions I would discuss the question about Arthur’s trust in Merlin, but I guess the answer is too obvious in this case. For completeness, here are some sentences: „Put the sword down, Merlin, you look ridiculous.” “You know me, Merlin, I never listen to you.”, “Shut up, Merlin.” From Arthur’s point of view, Merlin might be a loyal friend, but also a more or less useless servant.

 

**Who is Arthur’s `friend and advisor´ Merlin or Emrys?**

I guess it’s quite clear that the friend part belongs to Merlin. At least this is the first impression. The issue starts when you try to define when to deal Merlin and when to deal with Emrys, since Emrys does hardly fulfill the usual understanding of `friend´. It is rather fitting to describe him as a kind of bodyguard and/or magic Rambo, who eliminates everything and everyone, what could possibly affect Arthur, although Arthur does not know about this.

You can hardly be friend with somebody you don’t even know. Well, this is not totally correct, Arthur and Emrys met at some point of time. Yes, Arthur meets Merlin all of the time, but this is not what I mean. I’m talking about Dragoon the Great, since he and Emrys have more in common than the servant Merlin and Emrys (at least for my liking). Therefore, it is interesting to hear Dragoon’s attitude to Arthur: “And you I have heard how you…mistreat your servants, they do everything for you but do they ever get any thanks? No! You’re a spoilt arrogant brat with the brains of a donkey and the face of a toad.”

Is it a coincidence that Merlin/Emrys speaks more openly when he wears his disguise with the white beard? Is it a coincidence that Merlin is so eager to participate in Arthur’s secret missions to use magic to his own advantage, although it is to be punished by death sentence? You could almost get the feeling that Merlin wears disgust, because he is too much coward to stand up for his own opinion. Clothes make people.

 

**Why are these two people the prophesized heroes?**

I’m really sorry guys, but it’s really hard for me to find convincing reasons to understand the Triple Goddess. What makes her believe that Merlin and Arthur are capable of fulfilling their destiny as the prophesized dream team? Therefore, I will try another approach and dare to suggest another team. What is about Gwen, Morgana, Nimueh or some other pair? I mean, what is the difference between Arthur and Merlin and my pairs? Yes, I know prophecies are always right, messages of the goddess, centuries old and blah-blah (at least the dragon says so). However, it is still not satisfying to accept that two boys are meant to be the hope of the world just because of some obscure writing.

This prophecy thing is also responsible that Morgana, Morgause and all the others are condemned to be villains. Do you already see my intention? No? Okay, I will be more clearly. These are the heroes of the legend: Merlin, Arthur, Gaius, the Knights of the Round Table, … and these are the villains: Morgana, Morgause, Nimueh, … The guys are the heroes and the women are the villains. Shall we pretend to be surprised?

Yes, I know there are more characters, but believe me these guys/girls come out even worse. Queen Guinevere is on the hero-side, but you could also say she is Arthur’s placeholder for enforcing Camelot’s fight against magic. Not really my understanding of being a hero. But what is about the villains? Well, you can be a villain, or you can be remembered as trash. Some examples required? Agravaine, Helios, Odin, Cendred, etc. What do they have in common? Yep, they are all stupid stereotypes of henchmen.

Let me summarize this: The story of Merlin is about loyal, naive, but most importantly **male heroes** and henchmen, who follow orders blindly on the one side. The other side is represented by **female geniuses** of villains or power-hungry queens. I don’t know your opinion about this, but I would prefer the villain-side. Damn, this is not going to work I am just a stupid man. Btw, all this works because of the talking of a **male** dragon. Is it possible that the prophecy comes from a **male** seer?


	12. Gwen and Morgana – catfight or sisterly loving

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys, it is time for another chapter about Gwen and this one will deal with the relationship between Gwen and Morgana or should I say the TWO QUEENS READY FOR RUMBLE.

It’s a quite nice title, isn’t it? The general role of women in the story of Merlin was already a topic in the previous chapter. I guess it is time to have a direct confrontation between the most important women of the show. Let’s see who survives this virtual battle. Okay yes, this sounds a little too wicked for a family show, although the producers had a slightly strange understanding of `family shows´ considering the enormous blood sheet. I would prefer to say we will see who is the (un)most worthy queen at the end of this chapter.

 

**Merlin and Arthur – what can be learned from Gwen and Morgana?**

It’s quite obvious that we are talking about the relationship between Gwen and Morgana in the first seasons. Or maybe not? The first seasons can serve as positive rule for possible relationships between servant and noble: Gwen with Lady Morgana. The later seasons serve as a rule for the relationship between rulers of Camelot and magic users: Queen Guinevere vs. Morgana the witch. Did you consider the evolution from `with´ to `vs.´? But it is more interesting and funnier to discuss the evolution from servant Merlin? prince Arthur to Emrys? king Arthur. I’m not really sure how to describe the relationship between our heroes. You can replace the question marks by fitting words like: with, vs., etc.

However, I guess it is quite fair to say that the former relationship between Gwen and Morgana is not typical for servant and lady. I would rather call it a sister-like relationship. Arthur and Merlin are more proper. Nice words like `idiot´ are needed to clarify their roles and he must throw Merlin into the stocks for his constant prat-comments.

Interim conclusion: Merlin and Arthur become more like Gwen and Morgana during the first seasons.

But what is about our sisterly friends? Their relationship undergoes a different evolution. Queen Guinevere has real combat with Morgana the witch as it is right and proper for Camelot: good against evil, sword against magic.

It is quite disappointing that the show withholds the `King Arthur dealing with Emrys´-part from us. I’m not satisfied by the jabbering of a dying person without any meaning or consequences. But it is also hard to see Emrys as a real representative of magic people...

 

**What makes their relationship change so drastically from friendship to hostility?**

Another wicked question. The answer should be very simple, shouldn’t it? Morgana became evil and good and nice Gwen had no choice but to betray her former sisterly friend. At least this is what the show wants us to believe.

Is it really that simple or do we have reasons to speculate? It’s definitely more fun to ask some questions and to look for dirty secrets. What do our friends hide from each other? Strange, I did already ask the same question in the chapter about Arthur and Merlin. Is there anyone in Camelot, who really trusts anybody? Is anyone going his/her own way?

However, let’s come back to the topic. It is usually said that the relationship between Gwen and Morgana changes in season three, because of Morgana being evil. Err…I don’t think so. First issues in the perfect relationship did already appear in season 2. The lady and her servant start to focus on their private stuff instead of caring for each other.

Morgana’s stuff is her increasing magic. You might say that she tries to protect Gwen by not telling her about this, especially considering Gwen’s experiences with being accused of having magic. But why should she trust Merlin, the servant of Uther’s son and military leader against magic? Is this just another proof of Morgana’s not existing knowledge of human nature or is it a statement about trust, too? Gwen wasn’t so eager to help and protect Mordred when he was in Camelot, was she?

And what is about Gwen? What are her secrets? Well, there is one important point about friendships that had not changed in the last 1500 years. Is your best friend starts to hide something from you than you? I would bet he/she has a new girlfriend/boyfriend. And it is even worse if your friend has two affairs simultaneously. Gwen is really busy at this point of time. Lancelot or Arthur? Arthur or Lancelot? It's really time consuming to date all these noble guys. How the hell should she care about Morgana fearing for her life, because of her magic?

I guess this answer to the second question is not what we have expected. The true reason for the breaking friendship between Gwen and Morgana are men and magic.

What did you think while watching the episode `The Eye of the Phoenix´ (S03 E08)? Wasn’t it questionable what Gwen did there? She was watching Morgana using magic and rushes to Gaius’s chambers to inform him of Morgana having magic. Moreover, she said that Morgana intends no good for any of them. Strange I didn’t know that Gwen was an expert on magic or that she knew this spell in particular.

Who cares? It was enough to accuse her best friend of having magic and being evil. Is there any difference? This is a death sentence after all.

In summary, you could say that the friendship between Gwen and Morgana breaks because of men. Men are responsible for Camelot’s laws against magic and men are responsible for Gwen’s decreasing interest in her former friend. But shall we really blame men or shall we blame two stupid girls, who allowed men to destroy their friendship?

 

**Is it possible that our queens are not as different as the show wants us to believe?**

We are talking about Morgana, the stereotype of a villain and a crazy witch, and Queen Guinevere, the fair and loving queen of Camelot. They can’t have something in common, can they?

Here is a tiny list of some similarities, which might help a successful, but it is not something you would expect from a legendary and beloved queen - can you explain the difference?

  * to twist men around her little finger: May it be Lancelot, Helios, Arthur, Cendred or someone else. It is always good to have a man to do his duties to serve his queen. It isn’t proper for a queen to get her hands dirty.
  * people killed to achieve her own aims: This was predictable for the evil witch-queen Morgana. She is a villain after all. But what is about her majesty Queen Guinevere? A queen cannot allow sorcerers to live freely, since the laws of Camelot must be respected. But what is about using your own maid servants as bait to kill her father and what is about reprimanding your former friend and current advisor and court physician? I guess it’s not the crown what makes you a queen it is the capability of enforcing your own laws whatever the cost.
  * to betray former friends: Yep, definitely. It’s always easy to justify oneself by saying things like he/she is evil because he/she has magic or he/she hates magic.
  * \- to unjustly claim the throne for oneself: Accordingly to the laws of Camelot neither Gwen nor Morgana have any right for the throne. You might discuss what is worse to be bastard or to be servant, but it makes no sense. I guess Gwen has twisted the better man around her little finger – Arthur.
  * to forget your own convictions for one single person: Magic is evil and Uther was a good and fair king. What?! This is not my personal opinion. It is Queen Guinevere. Who cares about Gwen’s former convictions when it comes to the man she loves. It’s all about Arthur (and the crown). So much stupidity seems to be typical for the women of Camelot. The only thing that differs is the person of trust: Morgause or Arthur.
  * to lie, to betray and to pretend to be someone else: It’s another basic requirement of being a royal. It would be a shame to discuss this topic so shortly. It deserves an own question.



 

**Who is the better liar, hypocrite and actress?**

Morgana’s acting abilities were one of the dominant things in season three. But it was not really convincing, at least from my point of view. The season was more or less a proof of the blindness of everyone in Camelot. Who could not see Morgana’s legendary smirk all of the time? Katie’s acting might be Oscar-worthy, but Morgana’s not so much. People say only a good actor can pretend to be a bad one. I guess this is very fitting.

The same is true for Morgana’s abilities in lying and pretending. It might work for some time, but it will fail when she becomes controlled by her own emotions. At least the magic show is definitely the magic part begs to be filmed. Real magic is no match to some computer effects made by Hollywood.

Back to the point about lying and pretending. At least in season 4 you have to ask who is lying to whom? Morgana is always repeating her slogan `It is only about freeing magic´. But it seems to be a rather desperate and obvious attempt to convince herself instead of an attempt to convincing others. In that way it proves that she has got more than one screws loose at this point of time.

But what is about the acting abilities of our beloved Queen Guinevere? Well, her act of pretending and lying in season 3 was more efficient than Morgana’s. It was quite good how she pretended to be Morgana’s trustful friend and maid, although she conspired against Morgana with Merlin and Gaius most of the time.

Here are some statements to prove the honesty and reliability of her majesty:

“I just want you to know that I never stopped loving you” — Gwen to Arthur

“As long as I live, my feelings for you will never fade.” — Gwen to Lancelot

“You know I have always been loyal to you Morgana and I always will be.” — Gwen to Morgana

Do you see some tendencies? Would you trust a statement or even more a judgement of this queen? Words like `never´, `always´, etc. seem to have a quite limited expiration date.

Here is another statement of Queen Guinevere, which should be discussed:

“I may be the Queen, but you don’t have to hide your secrets from me” — to Sefa

Please put yourself in Sefa’s position and ask yourself what to do. Would you tell her about your connection to magic? Would you tell her that her family was persecuted by Camelot and that her father is fighting for freedom because of this? Do you have some tiny doubts, because of the fact that her majesty is totally loyal to Camelot’s laws. Moreover, her majesty `defends´ these laws, although she and her family experienced the same. (I thought Morgana is a bit batty...) Don’t be troubled by the fact that her majesty betrayed her formerly friend and labeled her as evil witch just because of magic. So what would you do in Sefa’s position? It’s quite hard, isn’t it? I guess the next question could be interesting, since it deals with the same topic. The only difference is the point of view.

 

**Which queen is more worth to be Uther’s successor?**

You are welcome to my **`Uther-chooses-the-new-queen´** contest. But you have to be aware that there is a tiny difference to other contest in the TV nowadays. The decisions will be made as it was right and proper in the Middle Ages. That means the jury consists of only one person and there is no participation of the TV viewers. Ladies and gentlemen, I ask for applause for our jury. Please welcome the great king Uther Pendragon!

Our first candidate is Morgana Pendragon. It is often said that she has many similarities with her father. Well the same is true for Arthur. Morgana would say it in her direct way: “Uther taught me well. Arthur is better in politics and would say: “You cannot blame me for my father’s sins.” However, our jury will definitely appreciate it, since the methods of ruling are worthy of being Uther's successor. The similar mental state is just a bonus.

But Morgana fails in the heritage point. The jury cannot tolerate an unwanted bastard, not to mention a woman, as ruler of Camelot. I guess the magic thing is a secondary obstacle for Morgana’s claim for the throne, since Arthur’s connection to magic was no problem at all. However, **Morgana fails** our ... sorry ... Uther’s contest.

The second candidate is Gwen. But the decision is probably simpler than in Morgana’s case. Our juror did already say it: “She is a servant.” (`The Death Song of Uther Pendragon´ (S05 E03)). Other people might criticize her way of leading or her handling of magic, but these things seem to be appreciated by the jury.

This is actually a point where she is more similar to Uther than Morgana. Morgana truly believed in her fighting to free magic, although it might be a result of her slightly instable brain. This is contrary to Gwen, who was fully aware that Camelot’s laws against magic are just tyranny and repression, especially considering her own experiences with it. But like Uther she accepted it – all for Arthur. Or is she even crazier than Uther? Uther enforced Camelot’s war against magic, but his personal grief because of Ygraine death was hardly helping his sanity. What is about Queen Guinevere?

However, let’s come to the final decision. Who is a (un)worthy successor of king Uther? But hey we don’t have to choose. We have a perfect son to claim the throne. Who the hell needs queens? They are just meant to be walking wombs, even if it is has to assist it by magic.

 

**Is Queen Guinevere more than Morgana’s puppet queen?**

„Good morning, my lady. I thought we could play a little game.“ This is one of my favorite sentences from Morgana. But there is one point that should be discussed a little more detailed. Who is actually playing? I mean the thing about having a spy in Camelot is an old hat.

Morgana enchanted Queen Guinevere to be her spy and puppet queen. A puppet should follow the commands of the puppet master immediately, but I have a strong feeling that Gwen is not the only one who dances to someone’s piping.

It is absolutely normal for little girls to talk to their puppets and treat them like real children and friends. But it can’t be a good sign for a full-grown woman to do so. It is more likely to be another hint for having a screw loose. This is exactly the case for our puppet-master Morgana. She hugs her puppet, talks to her and even reveals her suffering in Amata. It’s almost like the first seasons in Camelot. The only difference is Morgana’s … err…mental stability. She is just not at her best. But her way to trust and talk to a puppet is still a cry of desperation and insanity.

The true extend of the problem becomes obvious by confiscating the puppet from our crazy little girl. Small children tend to have tantrums from time to time, but they are usually not capable of crashing down throne halls or creating comets. So the true question is about the victims of Morgana’s brainwashing spell. Gwen is very obvious. But what is about Morgana? Is it possible that our little girl with a tendency to uncontrolled tantrums has accidently enchanted herself? Sometimes there is no spell needed to do so.

 

 

Phew! I know I promised to present the most worthy queen at the beginning of this chapter, but I don’t feel comfortable to do so. It’s like saying a politician is worthy to lead a land just because he/she got a majority of votes. It’s not really hard if you consider the enormous amount of none-voters. There is almost no difference between politics and war.


	13. Morgana and Morgause – sisterly loving

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At first, I want to add something to the last chapter, where I mentioned Gwen’s blindness concerning Merlin’s magic. Is it possibile that Gwen has magic too. She heard the screams of the mandrake roots. Morgause said that only magic people can hear it, but it is also possible that these `special´ screams were meant to torture the victims of the spell. However, it is definitely another inconsistency of the show and is still possible that Gwen has magic. I will mention this in the next chapter.  
> Okay guys, it is time for this chapter of my little fic. Surprisingly, it turned out to be psychotherapy for dysfunctional families. I will follow this way, although it was not planed in the beginning. Today we will deal with the mental issues of sisters.

Many people say that Morgause is the true evil in the show. This is probably a result of the first seasons, where Morgana gained more sympathy than all the others. This is in contrast to Morgause, who was always presented as the epitome of a manipulative and evil b/witch. But this approach reduces her character far too much to obtain a faked and simplified image of good-and-evil. Her role as Morgana’s sister is much more interesting.

Nobody else had such a close relationship to Morgana, even in the first seasons. The first question deals with the true influence of Morgause on the entire story and Morgana’s destiny.

 

**What if Morgana and Morgause had never met each other?**

It is quite simple to blame Morgause for everything, especially for Morgana’s evolution to the main villain of the show, according to the motto “the manipulative b/witch has brainwashed our nice and lovely ward.” We would have had a happy ending with love, peace and harmony, without her, wouldn’t we? A likely story!

Just think about the situation before Morgana’s `kidnapping´. What did our heroes do at this point of time? Arthur proved himself to be a good son by eliminating one of these nasty druid camps; Gwen was busy with her several relationships; Gaius was eagerly mixing his anti-magic drug cocktails; Merlin is in his second year of apprenticeship as Emrys, his mentors can be quite proud of his progresses in sacrificing everyone and everything for Arthur. Did I miss someone? Yes of course, the great king Uther did finally manage to push his ward/secret daughter over the edge.

It is really hard to ignore or misunderstand sentences like “… you Uther, you will go to hell.” Moreover, Uther was fully aware of the person, who was behind Alvarr’s escape. You can surely say that our heroes had an interesting basic for a happy and peaceful coexistence. The point of Morgause appearance is a good point to start our speculations about the progress of the story without her influence:

  * Would Morgana behave like a court lady should do? Would she pick flowers and wave a tissue to honorable knights?
  * Would she apologize to her guardian for her tiny `misunderstandings´ about the evil of magic?
  * Would she be able to hide her uncontrollable magic any longer?
  * Would she keep silent if king and crown prince play Camelot’s protectors against the evil of magic?



NO! For the last time, no! Morgana would have done nothing of these rubbish ideas. We are talking about Morgana after all. She is no brave dame of the Middle Ages, who is only doing what others say her to do or damsel in distress (hello Gwen). Morgana is a power woman from the 21. century and runs her head against a wall or go for Uther's throat (probably both) - hey nobody said power woman are smarter or survive any longer.

I have absolutely no doubt, that the next `magic-is-evil´ incidence would cause her emotions to explode like a loose cannon. We all know the consequences concerning Morgana’s magic very well. Not a stone will be left standing (and this is not meant metaphorically). But the crucial question is about the aftermath. It would be extremely hard to keep a magical collapse of a throne room secret (see end of season 3), unless you wanted to call it a possibility for a renovation. But would Uther even want to keep it secret? He did actually say it very clearly: “Camelot must come before all else.... even you.” And this was meant for the perfect son and not for the bastard daughter of a witch. Therefore, we must say it clearly: Morgana’s destiny in Camelot would have been the stake or a human guinea pig. The later one could even be worse, since how can you heal the `sickness of magic´?

Okay this is about Morgana’s probable destiny without her sister, but what is about the prophecy at all? Would the death of the supposedly evil witch allow the fulfillment of peace, freedom and magic? Does anyone see problems with this? How to get rid of Uther? The show ended after 10 years. I fear the old king wouldn’t have died of senility, especially because of two sorcerers who are very willing to enhance his life artificially. It’s just too stupid that druids don’t have such a long life expectancy.

Well, I guess that the story about Morgause as the pure evil is nothing more than a fabrication. The following step is about the one of the main pivotal moments in the entire show: Merlin saves Morgana by poisoning Morgana. Or maybe not?

 

**What is the ugly truth about the sleeping spell and Morgana’s betrayal?**

There is a tiny adjective in the question, which is already answering it in some ways. There is one obstacle in the typical story of Merlin saving Camelot. The crucial point is that we are talking about a sleeping spell. I want to repeat the important part that even naive heroes ala Merlin are able to understand it: S L E E P. Do you finally understand it Merlin? We are talking about sleep, nap, dreams, etc. It’s totally harmless and very healthy. But the most important part is “NOBODY DID EVER DIE FROM SLEEPING!” Nobody did say anything about killing or hurting everyone.

This entire story about “I had no choice.”, “…it was Morgana or Camelot…” is complete FAKE NEWS. Just imagine the absurdity of Merlin’s statements: What was Morgause planning to do? Did she plan to go to every single person in Camelot and kill them while they were sleeping? This would have been a really long walk. Why did the knights of Mehdir didn’t do this while looking for Uther? Where they too busy with singing lullabies to Camelot’s people or did the count sheep? No nothing of this did happen, because it was never Morgause’s plan to kill everyone. By the way a kingdom without people would be quite ridiculous, wouldn’t it?

Let’s be honest the sleeping spell was the most human and bloodless attempt to free magic in the entire show. Merlin should almost erect a memorial in Morgause’s honor or at least follow her example. His attempts to free magic (if you like to call it this way) did always have a lot of collateral damages. Of course Uther wouldn’t have survived this, but is this really a reason to cry one's eyes out? I would also prefer to die asleep. What could be better? And do we really have to poison our friends because of this? Uther was the one and only person who was actually at risk. But how to explain these facts to our wannabe-hero and savior of the world? What the hell would we do without Merlin the Great? Kneel down and raise your glasses to honor him! Do you hear what I'm saying? Where is your loyalty (Yeah, another possibility to write my favorite word)? Strange, what’s wrong with you Merlin is the hero?

But let’s take a look on the first appearance of Morgause. Who spared the Once and Future King twice, although he/she could have killed him easily and without magic tricks? Right this was the epitome of an evil and manipulative witch. Wouldn’t this be a perfect chance for revenge on Uther? What’s wrong with the villains nowadays? It seems she is not the brainless and bloodthirsty monster as Merlin would like to call her. Of course, she wanted to use Arthur for her revenge, but Arthur’s life was never at risk.

Isn’t this Merlin’s main (or should I say only) priority, too? Well, I gave up understanding Merlin a long time ago. Maybe, you are much better than me. But the truth is that Morgause needed the Once and Future King, although she wouldn’t call him this way. Yes, you read me correctly “Morgause wanted Arthur to be king!” What a surprising insight? MERLIN AND MORGAUSE HAD THE SAME AIM! Some readers might say that Morgause wanted Morgana on the throne but this is not correct, at least not at this point of time. She did not even know about Morgana’s right to the throne and therefore she needed a royal-blood to lift the ban against magic. Wow! What a conclusion?! The ultimate hero (Merlin) wanted to keep Arthur away from the throne and the evil witch (Morgause) wanted Arthur to become the Once and Future King. Did anyone see this coming?

 

**Morgana and Morgause – hostage, kidnapper and the Stockholm syndrome?**

The question includes the answer in some ways and indicates the basis for the following speculations. I want to discuss ways to keep your little sister (or brother) under control. In my first fic I made clear that I don’t believe in the theory of Morgana being enchanted by Morgause. There must be another way to `create´ well-behaved little sisters. I suggest the Stockholm syndrome. Who has an annoying sibling, but not enough money for a kidnapper? No problem! Here comes `Chef AndreKl's´ personal recipe for pacification and loyalty of younger siblings:

  1. Take a little sibling, who has experienced a great personal loss in a very young age and add some illegal skills (e.g. magic).
  2. Give spice to it by adding some friends, who are willing to betray you, drug you, or poison you just to make oneself pleasant to the big brother or rich father.
  3. The next ingredient is a guardian, who puts you into the dungeons, because of speaking up your own opinion. Stir well and carefully.
  4. Be patient and wait! Siblings are like wine, the longer you wait the better is your newly baked brave and loyal sibling.
  5. Give him/her the hand and introduce yourself when the sibling is almost mad with despair.
  6. Decorate your home-baked sibling with some nice words and a hug.



Tada, your new sibling will eat out from the palm of your hand. You will have to teach him/her for a while, but it will be eager to obey and learn from you. You are the big sister/brother after all. You will be always right.

Okay, what is the result of our little excursion to the cooking shows? Is Morgana mentally instable and an easy catch? Definitely yes. Does Morgana need a psychiatrist, after her time with Morgause? Even before. BUT IS SHE THE ONLY ONE? I guess we have to check the other heroes. What is the answer of someone, who has no reason to fear the stake for being magic? “Yes, Sir father and mass murderer!” What is the answer of people, who are not betrayed and poisoned by their `friends´? “…if it’s destiny, I will do whatever you say oh all-knowing, fire-spitting dragon and puppet master…”

It seems the brainwashing thing is working really well and not just for desperate and mentally fragile sisters. You could almost assume it is genetically determined. But Merlin is no member of the Pendragon family, although he has the same all-or-nothing attitude. There’s a sickness of the brain going round in Camelot. This would explain why Uther is still king. I can almost see our heroes and villains jumping from a cliff, like lemmings, because someone sings “I believe I can fly”. Poor Camelot!

 

**Morgana after her sister’s death – Is she the new version of Morgause?**

Morgana suffered several hits in her life, but I believe that the death of Morgause was the worst, the final Knockout. It was different to Merlin poisoning her, because there was no one left to catch her. But what can you do if your lifeline rips? It’s even worse in Morgana’s case since she ripped the lifeline/Morgause herself. This is the world from Morgana’s point of view, after the death of her big sister. From Camelot’s point of view it is much simpler: one witch killed, just one remaining -> we go for a hunt and prepare the stake. These are the different personal view of the world, but what is about the truth? We need clear and objective facts for our psychotherapy.

Well, let’s keep it very simple: Morgana has? Err… nobody. Morgana wants? Err… everything. Is she mentally able to do so? Err… definitely not. Who wants her head on a chopping block? Err… everybody. Does she have any plan? Err…nope. It’s really simple, isn’t it? You could say Morgana's preconditions are absolutely perfect to achieve… all or nothing? Good fun!

However, did you realize the crucial point in this list? MORGANA HAS NO PLAN. NOT AT ALL! This is the crucial point and the difference to Morgause. So Morgana is no copy of Morgause, but is this good or bad?

From Camelot’s point of view it’s a massive advantage, because they do know what is going to come. War can be quite simple if you know your enemy so well:

  * Wrapping men with powerful armies round one’s finger -> Well, that’s an old story.
  * Spies in Camelot –> I’m bored. Haven’t you something new?



Morgause might be dead, but Morgana is still tied to her sister’s apron strings. Moreover, she repeats the same plans over and over again, but learns nothing from failing. This is just rushing headlong into disaster with one's eyes wide open. But this has nothing to do with Morgause. A real copy would be far more dangerous, since she would be able to do more than copy-and-paste.

However, there is also another point of view. There are more characters, which are very happy about Morgana’s tendency to clutch at any straw. Can you imagine Aithusa with a Morgause 2.0 as her mother? The answer is quite simple: Kilgharrah 2.0. Really scaring, isn’t it?

Morgana was never a second version of Morgause. Nevertheless, sis is still present, always and everywhere. I am not talking about karma, ghost, etc. It’s just the emotional baggage and believe me Morgause weights a lot. No wonder Morgana becomes more and more ... err... what is a nice word for mad? I guess she felt a duty to prove herself to be worthy to her sister. From where do I know this? Oh yes, Arthur. Brother and sister are mentally bond to psychos. I truly love this family. Nobody can choose his/her relatives.

However, this is no job for Emrys, the almighty warlock. This is meant to a very long-lasting subscription with the best psychiatrist you can get. He will have some `happy pills´ and a very comfortable coach. Yes I know, these things are quite expensive, but we can manage this after (re)conquering Camelot, since this is true for both brother and sister. What do you think what Camelot’s vaults are made for? This is a totally safe agreement. Even loosing this war will not have any negative consequences. Dead people do not pay doctor’s bills.

Btw. what about Emrys himself? What was his plan? Did he have one?


	14. Merlin and Mordred – friends or enemies or both?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, the last circle about the 4 Big Four (Merlin, Arthur, Gwen, and Morgana) starts right now Big Four (Merlin, Arthur, Gwen, and Morgana). This one will be about Merlin and Mordred.

Up to now it was more or less simple to get a rough and shallow classification of the pairs into friends, enemies, lovers, etc. This is more complicated in case of Merlin and Mordred. It’s important to consider that Mordred is not only a sorcerer but also a knight of Camelot. It’s not my intention to impute prejudices against magic to Merlin. Err… maybe. I have just issues to name a moment, where Merlin defended the magic community against Camelot.

However, we are talking about the relationship of Merlin and Mordred. At the moment it does not matter if they are friends or enemies.

 

**What kind of relationship exists between Merlin and Mordred, Emrys and Mordred, respectively?**

I know it is very wicked of me to separate Merlin into two persons, although I should know that both Merlin and Emrys are one and the same person. What am I thinking all of the time? It’s a little tricky, because of their very different behavior. Well, we will see what is left at the end. I have a strange feeling that we will actually find some differences between the white-bearded grouch and the black-haired farm boy.

I think the most interesting part in the relationship between Merlin and Mordred is their first meeting. Merlin saves the little druid boy from the evil… (Sorry, I did almost insult the honorable knights of Camelot). However, Merlin saves Mordred with Morgana’s help. Good job. Really, I mean it. But one tiny question: What happens to you that you almost tried to stop the rescue? Who is the mysterious `friend´ of you, who tried to manipulate you? Bingo Kilgharrah! The friendly dragon is always there to guide Merlin the way of destiny. In the words of the dragon: “Let the druid boy die.” I give Merlin a credit for not obeying immediately. But it was still shocking to see the reaction of our hero. There is this scaring lizard, who tells him that there were some unknown people at some time, hundreds of years ago, who thought that the name Emrys is quite cool. Even more, this Emrys-guy is destined to play god and decide who shall live and who shall die. Does Merlin really feel that these shoes fit to him? It goes without saying that all this happens to protect Arthur. Nevertheless, Merlin has enough brain to resist the dragon. Yes he needed even more time than Arthur, who was brainwashed by Uther his whole life.

But from that point on the relationship between Merlin and Mordred goes down. The two meetings in season two are characterized by a Merlin who intends to retrieve his `error´ from the first season. The most telling episode is `The Nightmare Begins´ (S02 E03). Just to remember, Merlin `saves´ the druids from the consequences of his own idiocy by a tiny fog. So that the druids can run away (as usually) and `almost´ no one dies. Well, Mordred has the same opinion about avoiding victims and so he knocks the soldiers out instead of killing them. Why is Merlin looking so discontentedly? Or is it not Merlin, who is there? Is it Emrys? The next step is obvious. Merlin attempts to stop Mordred from running away, when the soldiers of Camelot try to catch him (`The Witch's Quickening´ (S02 E11)). We all know what would have happened if Mordred would get caught. So Merlin is doing the absolute opposite of what he did before he knew about his identity as Emrys. At least one thing is very clear now, Merlin/Emrys and Mordred are enemies. Mordred made this very clear: “I shall never forgive this, Emrys, and I shall never forget!”

But what happens after this? Just a few years later Mordred throws over everything. Arthur bears the hope of freedom and peace suddenly. Yes, we are talking about the same Arthur, who slaughtered the entire druid camp and the same Emrys who supports him all of the time. But all this is forgotten suddenly, like an unimportant difference in opinion. Why did Mordred change his attitude so drastically? But it’s getting even better, or should I say more confusing. The fifth season lasts approximately one year but Mordred changes the sides more often than I can count. There is only one person, who does not change at all: Emrys. Yep, you did read correctly. I am no longer talking about Merlin, since I haven’t seen him in season 5. There was Emrys and nobody else. All this flip-flopping and the private war between Emrys and Mordred are so obvious that someone should have/must have become suspicious.

 

**How did Merlin and Mordred survive in Camelot while they had their private conflict?**

We are talking about two sorcerers in the lion’s den after all. It’s really strange that nobody became suspicious during their private war. Granted, the soldiers and knights of Camelot are not really famous for their watchfulness and ability to think independently. Otherwise it wouldn’t be that easy for friend and enemy to walk in and out. Nevertheless, it is still strange that nobody questioned them.

Yes, I know this is not fair of me to criticize them all of the time. Here is a very objective question: Why does Mordred believe in Arthur as savior of the world?Yes, I know that Uther is dead, but this is true for four years. There is one scene in the episode `The Disir´ (S05 E05), which is describes the problem quite nicely. It is the moment, where Merlin and Mordred build a grave for Osgar in secret. Mordred says to Merlin that sorcerers are not permitted to have marked graves. I could say, that Arthur is responsible for the concerning laws, but this would be too boring. It is more interesting and funny to have a closer look at the final part of their discussion, where Merlin says that he believes that one day they will have freedom again. Strange, I have a strong feeling that we know this statement very well. Yes, it is some kind of mantra, which was mentioned over and over again. Merlin and Mordred gave a rousing speech about the unlimited justice, wisdom and mercy of their king and the glowing future that he will create. Okay yes, rousing might be the wrong word, but how shall I call it…? It was another repetition of the well-known phrases, a lot of blah, blah. So, guys don’t see this as critic it is a motivation. Next time you will do it better and with more convincement. I know it would be helpful to believe in the own words, but this is politic. I am sure you can do it. You have so many experiences in lying and acting.

But seriously, you are doing it quite well. You have adopted the main ideas and rules of Camelot. The main requirement is rather simple, especially for a knight and a servant: Obey orders! You don’t need a brain to shout “For the love of Camelot (or was it the king)!” Thinking is the king’s job. Come on guys!

Was this too mean of me? If yes, who did I insult exactly? Was it Arthur, Mordred or Merlin? However, I make an oath: “From now on, I will only ask nice and objective questions, which respect the high moral and honorable positions of our heroes.” Here is an example of my new self: Merlin, why are you so hostile to Mordred? Do you actually believe it will help to achieve peace and freedom for magic people? We all know the main rule for surviving in Camelot: `You are not allowed to attract attention!´ Concerning this, it seems questionable to give Mordred a dirty look all of the time, to shout at him or to get rough (`The Drawing of the Dark´ (S05 E11)). I guess we should have a talk about it. The word servant comes from serve. That means that a servant (this is you) has to serve the honorable Sir Knight (this is Mordred). Not vice versa. Is quite simple, isn’t it? I know it can be confusing from time to time, since you are pally with Arthur. Sometimes I have the feeling that you (the servant) tells him (the king) what to do. Therefore, it is recommended to be a bit more careful next time. Someone could start to ask questions.

I think it is quite amazing that Emrys and Mordred survived in Camelot, although Emrys fought Mordred secretly and the fact that they are both sorcerers. Hey, I vowed to be more respectful. I said nothing about kissing up to somebody. That’s why I dare to ask another question. It concerns the relationship between Merlin and Mordred, but also the relationship between Merlin and the magic world in general.

 

**How des Merlin answer to the expectations and prophecies on the all-mighty Emrys?**

I know you expect a long list of prophecies that are not fulfilled by Merlin/Emrys. But this was already done in my first fic and I am not someone, who brings up a painful subject over and over again... Remember, this is the new and better me.

But seriously, it’s really interesting to speculate about Mordred’s attitude to Merlin on the basic of the prophecy and his personal experiences. Why is he trying to become friends and help Arthur’s minister for magic affairs… (Damn, it’s really hard to keep my vow.)?

I guess we can assume that Mordred was told the prophecies and legends about Emrys from the elders of the druids. But what did they actually tell him? Was it like bedtime readings about Santa Claus, who fulfills all wishes (e.g. peace, freedom, etc.)? The white beard is a promising similarity. But maybe it’s rather fitting to compare the legendary Emrys with the Grinch. He might be powerful, destined and so on, but also someone to avoid, since he goes his own way.

Well, this was a nice speculation, but it is more important to focus on the reality. What does Mordred think about the real Emrys? Does the guy lanky with the sticky-out ears answer Mordred’s expectations about the savior of the magic world? Err… I don’t know. I have absolutely no idea what’s going on Mordred’s head. He is not stupid. He knows what Merlin thinks about him. There are so many citations to confirm this: “…You fear me, Emrys, don't you?”, “…Don’t be so quick to judge me.” or “…Everything I do you think the worst.” Therefore it’s really hard to understand Mordred’s intention, concerning Merlin. Is he trying to save him, to get him back on the straight and narrow? Sorry Mordred, this is not going to work. There are too many pulling at him. I fear Merlin has long forgotten who he really is and for what he stands for. But it’s not his fault. There is a tiny dragon in his ear, which tells him what to do. Damn, why are we are always coming to the `thinking-independently topic´?

Mordred, this is just for your own good. You should have listened to me: “Emrys is Emrys and he will not and cannot be Merlin.” I know it sounds like knowing everything, but what would you do if your girlfriend is killed by the king. Did the nice uncle Emrys help you? No. That is the difference between Emrys and normal people. Merlin might have been normal, but that was a long time ago. Do you believe this white-bearded guy is alone for eternity willingly? No. That is what destinies and prophecies make you. There were women in his life, but they had a very short expectation of life:

\- A red-haired high priestess, who flirted with him for a short time; she wanted to work with him to free the magic world from Uther -> killed by a magic lightning

\- A black-haired seer and king’s ward; no other person trusted him like this -> poisoned, betrayed, stabbed

\- A druid girl, who knew him for a few hours -> killed by his best friend

\- Stop! There was a servant, who became queen latterly -> RUN GWEN RUN!!!

These are/were four beautiful and intelligent women, who had a more or less serious relationship with Merlin/Emrys. Three of them passed away in a very young age. Does this mean anything to you? You cannot honestly believe that this grumpy old guy would care for others. Well yes, he cares but only for those people, who have a special name: Arthur.


	15. Arthur and Morgana – sibling rivalry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys, it’s time for another Pendragon family therapy. Morgana and Arthur might learn about their truth about their relationship a little late, but they behave like siblings most of the time. It’s time for a cool fight brother vs. sister, king’s ward vs. crown prince or something like this?

Well, our two favorite siblings undergo a quite extreme evolution during the show. There were some hints of pairing in the first season, but it became a full-grown war in the end. But why does it have to be like this and what is it about? Let’s play some What-if questions.

 

**What if Arthur and Morgana did actually fall in love with each other?**

Err…nope. Please don’t do this. This would have been a real catastrophe and I’m not talking about the incest thing.

I mean yes, there were some hints in the first season, where the producers wanted to lead us up the garden path. Statements like:

“God, have mercy.” (Arthur upon seeing Morgana) or “It’s not every day a girl gets to save **her prince**.” (Morgana to Arthur) might sound promising, but it was never real. You could call it pubertal puppy love. This is already indicated in the second sentence.

I did use the bold font on purpose: “…her prince…”. Aha, this is already a competition of ownerships. You would not say something like this about your true love, but you would very-well say it about your annoying brother. Morgana said it herself in the first episode: “I mean, the man's a total jouster.”

Such a relationship was never an option. I did already mention an important reason in the chapter about Gwen and Arthur: Morgana did never share Arthur’s unconditional admiration of his (their) father. By the way can you imagine Morgana pretending to be a brave and proper lady of the court, like Gwen did?

However, I guess Daddy would have found a reason to stop this marriage of nightmares. Could have been interesting. But there are more people/creatures, which would do a lot to stop such hypothetical marriage. Let’s play it!

And if anyone knows any reason why these two should not be wed, please speak now or forever hold your peace.

  * Kilgharrah: “…the witch cannot be trusted…”
  * Camelot’s nobles: “…the witch…“
  * Gaius: “…the witch…”
  * Merlin: “…the witch…”



Okay these are a lot of the anti-magic mafia, but there are even more people.

  * Gwen: “I just want you to know that I never stopped loving you” (Gwen to Arthur)
  * Uther: “Sorry kids, I forgot to tell you about this tiny incest-problem.”
  * etc., etc.



As you can see, there are many reasons against a marriage between Arthur and Morgana. But why is Morgana to blame for it all of the time? I guess this is another example of these `women-are-evil´ stereotypes, which was typical in the Middle Ages. But most of all it's very popular in Merlin, isn't it?

However, the main reason is the magic-topic once again. **Arthur can’t act without** Daddy’s permission and **Morgana can act only without** dad… Oh forget it. Kill this tyrant of a father and finish the problem.

 

**What if the siblings had no reason to fight each other?**

This would be a dreamland of milk and honey. There is no doubt, siblings have to quarrel and fight. They wouldn’t be siblings without this. This is also true in the first chapters with this pseudo-love between them.

The real question is what reasons can be used to fight each other. Normal siblings nowadays would fight about the TV program or the use of the handy – really ordinary stuff in the 21. century.

But things are more interesting with two royal siblings in the Middle Ages. Crown prince vs. the king’s ward is definitely worth to fight. The only thing that differs is the stake. Here are some examples of brotherly and sisterly love:

  * “Brings back memories of when I used to beat you?” (Morgana to Arthur). A quite nice statement from the first season, where Morgana and Arthur are fighting some bandits. Poor Arthur, sister getting the final word. But it’s getting even better. Morgana must say such things during a life-threatening fight. The perfect crown prince of Camelot was beaten by a girl in sword fighting. No wonder Arthur has a tendency to deny unwanted things. Don’t worry Arthur’s ego is not at risk. I bet little Arthur has taken this defeat, like an honorable knight of Camelot. He did surely run to Daddy and snitched on Morgana: “Morgana is playing with wooden swords instead of girly puppets.” Oh Daddy must be so proud of his children.
  * “In my experience, you don’t need any help looking like a fool” (Morgana to Arthur) is one of these typical motivations between the siblings. It’s quite funny that Arthur is always blundering. Morgana will appreciate it by further teasing. Wasn’t there an incident where Uther laughed about Arthur because he lost a bet against Morgana? I would call it a typical day in sibling’s rivalry.
  * The real extend of Arthur’s and Morgana’s `love´ for each other is illustrated in their fight for toys, like servants. At the beginning Gwen is Morgana’s best friend, but it changed when Arthur has overcome his childish playboy-phase (thanks to Morgana). It’s just an incidence that Arthur is interested in her sister’s servant, but Morgana returns the favor by `playing´ with his servant. A young naive boy from the land shall match the king’s ward and femme fatale? Arthur should really be more careful with his toys.
  * The quarrel about Camelot is somehow a sequel of their further fights as much as the `who is more like daddy topic´



 

**What if daddy had (no) reasons to be proud of his son and daughter?**

“Yes, Sir Daddy you are my hero and commander-in-chief” or is it more fitting to say “I will never listen nor obey to you, you arrogant tyrant”? However, it doesn’t really matter what they say our siblings have one thing in common. Both of them are extremely fixated on their father – just for different reasons. Therefore it’s not very surprising that daddy is also fixated on his `planned´ son and his bastard daughter.

But what if Arthur would not stand at attention every single moment of his life, although Uther is long gone? What if Morgana would not be so stubborn and pigheaded? Let’s imagine an `Anti-Camelot´. We have to deal with a well-behaving and submissive Lady Morgana, who is too eager to be married by her guardian to some noble, like the Sarrum of Amata. We do also have to deal with an Arthur, who is leading a rebellion against Camelot to free magic people. It’s really hard to imagine, isn’t it? I do not even know what is more crazy, a proper lady-like Morgana or a rebellious Arthur. Let's think about other worlds and dimensions. Could it be possible...

But would Uther really be proud of his secret daughter in this `Anti-Camelot´? I had always the feeling that he was quite proud of Morgana’s independency and strength. It was just a `misunderstanding´ that her independency leads her to question and fight daddy. Would he really like a daughter, who sits in her corner and meek and mild about everything? I don’t think so. This is actually quite surprising since he was always proud of his son being a yes-man.

But what would he do with Arthur in our `Anti-Camelot´? There was the episode `The Death Song of Uther Pendragon´ (S05 E03), where he was ready to attack Arthur because he was no longer following every command (the word `every´ is important). Does this mean that Uther would allow his son to be replaced by his daughter in Anti-Camelot? No, for two reasons: the key-words are `son´ and `daughter´. The first word means the stupid Camelot/Middle Ages fixation on men and the second word means that Uther would haave to reveal his ugly secret. What may be the crucial reasons?

 

**Sister vs. brother, brother vs. sister – What if one of the siblings could have won the rivalry?**

“We ride at dawn.” is one of Arthur’s favorite sentences. This is quite interesting since a very similar sentence came from Morgana “Prepare the horses! We’re going for a hunt.” But for winning you have to be able to do other things than you rival. The problem is that this would require more brain. Morgana is always controlled by her emotions and Arthur by his military education. Uther is still holding the reins, even from the grave.

Let’s be honest, do you really think that one of these big kids deserve to win? The victory celebration alone would have been an unbearable act of propaganda. Therefore, I like to think that the final outcome was probably the best for everyone.

Morgana’s comment is very much true, when she is saying: „You havve won the battle but you have lost the war.“ to her little brother. But it’s the same for the big sister.

Morgana was more `wise´ at the beginning of the show. Please note the inverted commas. It is very important since there was nobody in the entire show, who can actually claim to be wise.

However, things change during the show. A fitting summary could be:

`the higher the stakes the stupider the siblings.´

Both of them are rather crazy than normal thinking people at the end of the show. Whatever normal is? A teeny rivalry has become a full-grown war. It doesn’t really matter who started this stupidity and it doesn’t matter who is to blame for.

Oh Ygraine, I wish you would have been there. Someone has to give these spoilt children a good talking. Sibling’s rivalry is okay, but these two are so thick that it hurts - actually it kills.

 

**What if – Camelot without Morgana the evil witch?**

Camelot would be a great and ideal place without Morgana, wouldn’t it? Everyone would be happy, there would be peace and justice and magic would be allowed and celebrated. Oh well, it’s a nice dreamery. But what is about reality?

My personal opinion about those thinking is very simple: AGONIZINGLY BORING. Who the hell wants to see five seasons of blah blah? The few episodes without Morgana were the worst of the entire show. Nobody to blame, nobody to be at each other's throats...

But let’s use the question for some funny and wicked speculations. A hypothetical Camelot without Morgana would be full of strange and surprising problems:

  * Who shall kick Arthur’s ass, when he is dancing to daddy’s tune once again? Who shall convince Arthur of Gwen’s innocence in the `The Mark of Nimueh´ (S01 E03)? Who shall convince Arthur to go for the antidote to save his servant Merlin in `The Poisoned Chalice´ (S01 E04)? -> Oh well, this would have been a crappy Merlin show. The title character and the future queen would have been dead after 4 episodes. Arthur without Morgana is a really scaring imagination. What is worse than dollophead?
  * Who shall be the evil witch? Merlin needs a reason to free his dragon friend. There wouldn’t be this nice camp fire in Camelot without Morgana. Or is our scaled friend able to impute someone else with a dark destiny? What about Gwen as evil traitor?
  * Who shall be the magic bogeyman to blame for all the evil in the world? This is very essential for Gaius, because nobody needs an expert for magical issues without evil witches or should I say without a war against magic. It is also important for manipulating Merlin, which wouldn’t be so easy without Morgana or Morgana the freedom fighter. No it had to be Morgana the evil witch
  * Who shall stand up against Camelot’s war against magic? Sorry! I forgot Arthur and Merlin freeing magic without Morgana. It is totally obvious that Morgana is the only reason for Arthur’s blind obedience to his father.



Oh yes, the world is so much more easy if you have someone blame to blame for… whatever you want. It was always funny to see our `heroes´ accepting totally ridiculous and unproved comments about `villains´ without any questions or doubts. Nobody would ever dare to ask for a motivation or true intention.

Therefore I like to believe that they would have some other villain in a world without Morgana. But is anybody of these potential second-rate quality villains able to substitute Morgana? I don’t think so. I want to have a villain with style and charisma. Morgana’s mental state is a bonus. An `insane villain´ is a nice contrast to our `reasonably and objectively thinking heroes´.

 

However, the crucial question is: “Who of our two siblings is a worthy king or queen?” Worthy? Forget it! They are both immature kids, mainly focused on their own interests and reputations. In that way the end of the show was probably the best for everyone in Camelot. Unfortunately this does not say anything about the suitability of Queen Guinevere. Oops!


	16. Merlin and Gwen – the servant-queen and her (magic) servant-friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. This is supposed to be the second last chapter. The last one will be about Morgana and Merlin, which should be the most exciting and challenging chapter. I’m not really sure that I will come up to my own and your expectations. However, now it’s time for Merlin and Gwen.

Well, it’s a quite interesting pair. The heroic Merlin, savior of Camelot, Albion and the entire world on the one side and the Queen Guinevere Pendragon, the personification of mercy and justice on the other side. Sounds like a dream team. It’s just too stupid that we have made some unpleasant experiences with people, who are supposed to be dream teams. However, this is neither Arthur and Merlin nor Merlin and Gwaine. Let’s be optimistic and say: “Yes, we have found the real dream team. Time to celebrate. Or maybe not?”

 

**Merlin and Gwen – What kind of pair are they AND what could have been?**

Okay, a general description of the relation between Gwen and Merlin would be: good friends. At the beginning of the show it was indicated that there could be something more, but this changed at least in season 2, because one of the participating persons (I’m not saying who.) had higher goals for his/her life.

It’s quite interesting that this does not cause a real break of the relationship between Gwen and Merlin, because the other person did also decide to follow higher goals. But this person was not interested in love, but rather in saving the world. In that way you can say that Merlin and Gwen are quite ambitious and I guess it is also fair to imply quite extended egos.

But this is not even the funniest thing about the evolution of the relationship between Gwen and Merlin. Our `maybe couple´ of the first season broke the possibility for a more extended their relationship by mutual agreement so that everyone could concentrate on the same blonde guy. It’s really funny how a `maybe´ relationship between two people can become a `love triangle´, especially considering that Gwen is not fully aware of Merlin’s interests in `her´ blonde guy.

A delicate example for the formation of this `love triangle´ is given by considering the fact how Gwen reacted when she learned about Morgana’s magic. She is very eager to work with Merlin (her former `maybe boy-friend´) to stop the evil witch. Is this just because of Camelot’s `magic-is-evil´ brainwashing? Is it an incidence that Gwen exchanges her former best friend (Morgana) against someone (Merlin), who has better access to that blonde guy? However, I want to speculate about the possible affair between Gwen and Merlin in season one, before discussing the further evolution of their relationship.

Gwen first notices Merlin when he stands up to Arthur when he is taunting a servant. When she introduces herself she admits that she thinks Merlin is brave and a real hero. Hero??? He is a hero, because he says something to a clotplot and dollophead, who can’t even dress himself?

It’s very easy to please this woman. Accordingly to this, Morgana must be a goddess, because she is standing up to Uther. I know this was very wicked of me. These two things can’t be compared, because Uther is a very understanding and just person. What could you possibly loose by talking to him? Your head.

Talking to Arthur is a complete different thing. To be honest I have a feeling that you could tell him almost everything and he would accept it (especially in the first seasons). Just think about `The Gates of Avalon´ (S01 E07), where Arthur wakes up in his bed at the end of the episode. Merlin tells him that he knocked him out and brought him back to Camelot. Well, Arthur is an easy catch. He acted like some hangover guy, but I would really like to see Merlin talking to Uther this way.

The friendly relationship between Gwen and Merlin started witch a mutual dislike for Arthur. So you could be wicked, sarcastic or realistic and say “hate binds”. Gwen develops a crush on Merlin in the further episodes of season 1 and even kissed him. Would you bet on Merlin’s reaction? He said it was “more than fine.” Okay, I guess he was still naive virgin at this time.

But Gwen was getting even more `focused´ on her possible love interest. She appeared to be jealous of the attention Merlin paid to Nimueh, who was disguised as a handmaid called Cara (`The Poisoned Chalice´ (S01 E04)). It is either an extreme case of `Love is blind´ or `quite possessive´ to be jealous on a villain.

 

**Is Merlin an Arwen-shipper?**

The answer is a big red YES! Nobody else is so focussed on playing cupid. But why is he doing this?

Is he trying to compensate his own not existing love life, because he is married to the entire prophecy stuff? Believe me sex with the own destiny is not really satisfying. Not even the all-knowing dragon did say something about a `Once and Future Queen´, not to mention that Gwen’s name was never part of any prophecy. Surprise! Is Merlin writing his own prophecies?

Is Merlin driven by his guilty conscience? I know this is not possible since he is just following the prophecies. But maybe he realized that he has a tendency to ruin his own love life. Just look at the list: Nimueh, Morgana, Freya,… Merlin messed it up, before it could even start.

However, Merlin seems to act like: "I might be an idiot in my own relationships, but this does not stop me from playing date doctor." His acting does also have some advantages for himself. He became the `comment box´ of the king and queen. Who knows every secret and issue of the royal couple? Yep, Merlin.

 

**Gwen and Merlin – what do they have in common?**

The most obvious similarity between Gwen and Merlin is their special `interest´ in Arthur. The word interest is written in inverted commas with purpose and I’m pretty sure you know the reasons.

Let’s just say that one person of the pair Gwen and Merlin is mainly interested in putting Arthur on the throne, while the other person seems to be quite interested in the place next to Arthur’s throne. Is this too wicked? Err…nope, I don’t think so. Just to remember, here is my favourite sentence of chapter 8: “All I have ever wanted is to be your queen.” (`Lancelot du Lac´ (S04 E09)).

However, it should be mentioned that Merlin would hardly reject his position as king’s friend and advisor. In that way it is quite funny to have a closer look on some possibilities to put Arthur on the throne (even without killing Uther).

  * Arthur learns the truth about his birth and the war against magic (`The Sins of the father´ (S02 E08)). Merlin and Gaius could have convinced him to degrade Uther (please consider that the knights were always more loyal to Arthur).
  * Uther is already degraded in `The Tears of Uther Pendragon´ (S03 E01 & E02) and Arthur is regent king. Merlin could convince Arthur to free magic, etc., especially considering that this episode showed us (AND MERLIN) the true extend of Uther’s genocide very clearly. Surprise! Merlin’s and Gaius’s main priority is to put Uther back on the throne.
  * etc. etc.



I’m totally confused. I thought peace, freeing magic, etc. was the aim of the entire prophecy stuff? They wasted two seasons in a lunatic attempt to convince us that Uther must be protected for achieving the prophecy, no matter how matter how many people have to suffer and die because of this. Here are two possibilities, were all requirements seem to be fulfilled, but what are Merlin and Gaius doing? They put Uther on the throne to continue the war. ANYONE HELP ME! I JUST DON’T GET IT.

Wait, could it be… No. Merlin wouldn’t be… would he? Is it possible that we forgot the other part of the prophecy: `The great Emrys (Merlin) must be at the king’s side´? What is your opinion? Is Merlin so focused on `his position´ in the prophecy?

However, I guess we get the main similarities between Gwen and Merlin, but it is still funny to speculate about their relationship. It can be quite helpful if a couple shares the same social background, which is very much true for Merlin and Gwen (at least in the first seasons). Another, probably more important, similarity concerns the common skills.

I did already indicate that our poor and innocent Gwen is quite capable in lying, acting, etc., in chapter 12. She is even able to keep up with Morgana, if not more. All this is quite useful and connecting for her `relationship´ with Merlin. It seems servants have a special talent to know all the ugly secrets.

However, Gwen became queen very quickly and that means she had no reason to justify her actions in any way. She is Queen Guinevere Pendragon, the legendary image of justice and mercy after all.

Therefore it’s also the `proper duty of a queen´ to lead your maid to believe in you as a trustful friend and to use her as bait for killing her father. Problems to understand this? Yep, me to. But don't worry about this. We are just ordinary stuff. We cannot understand these high values of nobles. Enforcing the laws of Camelot by all available means and independent on the justness of these laws - the duties of a queen. Well done Gwen! Uther would be proud of you. Psst! I won’t tell him about this tiny problem with your servant background.

 

**How is Gwen’s relationship to her `good sorcerer´ friend Merlin?**

Really wicked question. Isn’t it well-known that Gwen knows nothing of Merlin’s magic? By the way, she is not allowed to know anything about his magic, because the order of a queen would have to behead him. Camelot comes first! Nobody else was so eager to demonstrate this than the majesty herself. Is there a reason to doubt this?

We did already establish that servants know everything and it is also well-known that Merlin has a …err interesting understanding of keeping his magic secret. I dare to speculate about an enormous assertion: “Queen Guinevere Pendragon has known the true identity of an illegal sorcerer, who hides himself in her kingdom.” What a shock?! I mean we all know Gwen’s reaction concerning her best friend’s (Morgana) magic. Therefore you are absolutely right to question my assertion.

Well, here is the answer. Do you remember the episode `Lamia´ (S04 E08)? Gwen noticed that Lamia seemed to think of Merlin as the enemy and that he had not been affected by her enchantments. Strange! There is a magic monster, which easily beats the best knights of Camelot, including her own brother. But an unarmed and lanky servant is a threat? How is this possible? Moreover, this bean-pole survives every battle and every mission against bandits, armies of enemies, sorcerers and magic creatures (e.g. fire-spitting dragons).

Does anyone hear Camelot’s anti-magic warning bells? Okay yes, Arthur should have known Merlin’s secret much earlier, but I did always believe Gwen to be smarter than the `Once and Future King´. Considering all this it is quite fair to ask: “Is this another example of Camelot’s notorious blindness or is someone applying double standards – another thing that is very popular in Camelot?” Does Queen Guinevere prefer a `good sorcerer´? This would be favouritism. Is it even possible to be a `good sorcerer´ in Camelot?

 

**Why does the relationship between Gwen and Merlin change?**

It is quite interesting and funny to observe the changing relationship from a `maybe love´ in season 1 to a more professional queen-servant relationship.

Let’s try to see this from Gwen’s perspective. I did already write some nice and wicked comments about the change from Gwen to Queen Guinevere. She starts as a person, who is respected and loved by everyone – okay Uther is not everyone. Gwen has many friends, among others the titular character. Her mistress treats her like a sister, despite of her social standing. (Hey Merlin, don’t be jealous. Your prat will become the Once and Future King.)

However, nobody can deny that the former servant has more men to make approaches to her than anybody else. It’s just an incidence that this is related to an increase in power. Well this is already known and I have mentioned this several times.

But here come the interesting and new part: Her increasing power is very much related to a loss of human contact. Her male acquaintances have a tendency to die a painful and violent death and her female friends in Camelot (e.g. Morgana, Sefa) must be sacrificed to the sacred laws of Camelot. How did Merlin call it: “It’s lonely to be special.” Yep, this is true. It does not matter if you are magic of royal.

Am I the only one, who sees some similarities to the evolution of Morgana? There are two queens and both of them are alone at the end. I guess this is the price of power and the wellbeing of Camelot. Stop! Did I actually write `the wellbeing of Camelot´? Strange I did always have the feeling that the meaning of Camelot’s slogans “For the love of Camelot!”, and “Long live the queen!” is pretty much the same.

Okay, let’s stop these speculations – at least for now. There is one important difference between the queens that should be discussed in a separate question.

 

**What happened to Gwen and Merlin after Arthur’s death?**

Gwen is not completely alone at the end of the show. She has Merlin on her side. Their friendship (with ups and downs) is one of the few constant relationships in the entire show, which is a statement about the characters in general but also a statement about Merlin and Gwen. Are they what Merlin and Arthur were supposed to be?

I did already indicate that I’m not really convinced about the possibility of Gwen being the `new or surrogate Arthur´ in my first fic („Merlin – a character review“). It’s quite hard to believe that she would truly free magic and achieve peace. I guess it is very likely that lifting the ban against magic (if it actually happens) is also meant to use Merlin’s magic officially (as weapon?). It could `pacify´ magic users, who might want justice or revenge. (What is the difference?)

Do you think I’m too pessimistic and wicked about this? Well it could be much worse. Worse?! Yes. You have to consider Merlin’s personality at the end of the show. This is not the nice and friendly country boy, but rather a broken old man. Unfortunately for everyone else he is also an obsessed and super-powerful lunatic, named Emrys. Surprise, this fits very well to Queen Guinevere Pendragon, who isn’t the nice Gwen anymore.

Is this our dream team 2.0, since dream team 1.0 died with Arthur? A prophecy was written a long time ago. Nobody said something about a sequel... Let’s have a look on the preconditions: two people, who lost the most important person in their life, although (or because) they have sacrificed so much for him (including parts of their personalities). Does this sound somehow familiar?

I don’t want to indicate another Purge, but these preconditions remind me of another king of Camelot. Is there a reason that nobody was ever talking of a Once and Future Queen or is it another example for Camelot’s `women-are-evil´-mantra?


	17. Morgana and Merlin – the truly perfect pair in every way possible

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s finally time for the last chapter about Merlin and Morgana or Mergana or mortal enemies or … These two are a really special pair. They are somehow the pair of pairs. I hope you will enjoy it. Actually I do not trust myself and do not believe that this (or any other chapter) can truly meet all requirements of a review about this special pair.

It was really hard for me to write this chapter at the beginning, because I could not decide which questions are the most important ones. I mean this pair is full of so many questions. At the end I decided to ask one single question:

 

**Why did Mergana never really happen OR did it happen all the time?**

This question might sound very strange considering the enemy and killing part of the relationship between Merlin and Morgana. It becomes even stranger when you consider this question comes from me, someone who was hardly very nice to Merlin in my previous fics and chapters. Some might think that I don’t like Merlin at all. But this is wrong. Actually I like Merlin as long as he is the real Merlin. My issues are with Emrys. Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? Well I believe that many characters in the show have some kind of split personality:

  * Merlin and Emrys
  * Morgana and the insane witch (Attention: I use `insane´ with purpose since I believe that Morgana is as good or evil as everyone else.)
  * Gwen and Queen Guinevere Pendragon
  * Arthur: “…I miss my father’s wisdom and strength…” and “You cannot blame me for my father’s sins.”
  * etc. etc.



In that way I want to write this chapter about the true Merlin and Morgana and not about their obsessed and crazy personalities. Although these alter egos were often present (especially in the fifth season). Nevertheless, there were some moments were you could see Merlin and Morgana. This is one of the reasons why I like to call them “my favorite idiots”.

But let’s start from the beginning of the relationship between Merlin and Morgana.

**Get to know each other:**

Even the first encounter of our `loving idiots´ was very symbolic.

At first let’s have a look on Merlin’s point of view: I mean think about it. Of course it is just a coincidence that Merlin comes to the cambers of the court lady when Morgana is undressed. It goes without saying that gentleman Merlin is helping the half-naked women while Morgana is joyfully gossiping about Arthur’s arrogance. This is also the first thing that Merlin and Morgana have in common – they dislike his royal pratness.

The next encounter appears at the feast. Merlin’s jaw drops down immediately. Am I the only one who feels strongly reminded on the classic phrase “love at first sight”?

But Merlin is not the only one, who is secretly yearning for the other one. Morgana is also very fond of Merlin. It can’t be proper for a noble lady to listen to every single word of a male servant, especially considering that we are talking about a very special servant. He serves Arthur, the prat and son of Uther, the person Morgana hates at most.

At some times, you could get the feeling that Morgana is more often in Gaius’s chambers than in her own ones. Is it mean of me to suggest a connection between this place and a special person? Gaius can’t have so many sleeping drugs. By the way, why is Morgana not sending Gwen? Getting things for a noble is a job for servants after all.

**First doubts:**

We have a stable `friendship´ between Merlin and Morgana established at the middle of season one. We have seen how Morgana, Merlin, Arthur and Gwen experience several adventures.

An observant viewer might realize that Merlin and Morgana are usually the initiative pair of the four main characters. Yes, Arthur seems to be the hero in most episodes, but this is usually happening after Morgana gave him a kick in his royal ass and the magical mystery is already solved. A cynic person might say Arthur is just some guy wielding a sword.

But Mergana’s initiative is also the reason for the first break in the relationship of our loving idiots. Morgana is no longer ready to accept Camelot’s war against magic (`To Kill the King´ (S01 E12)). Granted, it was a typical attempt of Morgana. That means it was completely chaotic and not really elaborated – simply Morgana-style. But it could have been a possibility for Merlin to strengthen his relationship to Morgana. Is it really that complicated to say: “We have the same aims – freeing magic. Let’s work together.”? Well, I don’t think so.

Merlin’s fears and doubts are especially interesting and symbolic if you consider that it is not even necessary to tell his `soulmate´ about his own magic. The only thing that matters was to step up to the other and talk to each other. When was it ever a problem for Merlin to talk to anyone else? It was rather the opposite way. Merlin being silent…err nope. Why can’t he talk to Morgana? His behavior is rather ridiculous or childish. Or maybe… could it be a sign of uncertainty? Trust is a really difficult and strange thing, isn’t it? Why did Killgharrah never said anything about a destiny with Morgana and Merlin together? It could feel so right, but our hero acted like a shy baby. I dare to say that this is Merlin’s version of commitment phobia: “…she loves me she loves me not…”.

To be fair it isn’t easy to handle all this stuff of destiny and prophecies. Arthur is the other side of Merlin’s coin. Okay maybe. But does this mean Emrys has to be alone all the time and to throw everyone else to the wolves? Err… nope. I don’t think so. Believe me the eternity can a damn long time.

But Merlin as an idiot - yes, I know everyone is - and this is actually his luck, because he is not the only one. Accordingly Merlin attempts to distance himself from Morgana after the episode `To Kill the King´ (S01 E12) did not last very long. Ultimately Merlin and Morgana end up becoming closer due to Morgana’s manifesting magic.

**To trust advises of some idiotic friends:**

Everyone knows this phase in a new relationship: You start to trust each other and the relationship starts to bloom. Our two love birdies are such a nice couple. Have you seen them flirting with each other but not admitting it? I mean even Arthur, the epitome of blindness and nativity, is realizing the affection between Morgana and Merlin. Granted, Arthur’s motivation was not to support their relationship. That’s for sure! It is more probable that Arthur fears his love-crazed servant might ignore his duties.

However, Merlin (and many other people) makes the typical error to talk to his/her friends before the relationship is truly established. Therefore some annoying friends, like Gaius, Killgharrah, Morgause, etc. do always get a chance to butt in. What is wrong with new couples that they cannot trust themselves? The worst thing about this is that Mergana are a very easy catch for those people, who call themselves `friends´. It must be really hard to make own decisions when it is so easy to follow the pressure of a group.

At least this is another example of Morgana and Merlin doing the same mistakes. Moreover, they do it in their typical extreme ways. Just think about Morgana trusting Merlin totally and blindly. Did anybody trust him this way ever? No. Morgana’s trust is especially charming (or should I say naive?) if you consider that we are talking about Merlin. Every neutral viewer could easily see that this man has more secrets and false identities than the entire CIA. I guess this is what people call “to see things through rose-colored glasses”. Oh yeah, love is blind.

The jealous kneejerk reactions, which are regretted in the aftermath:

This is another typical moment in new relationships. It is a totally ordinary situation, but suddenly everything changes when you see your new love interest with someone unknown. Is it an ex? Why is she/he meeting her/his ex? Do you feel the jealousy boil over? Do you feel your common sense shutting down and yourself changing back into a brainless galoot? There is only one thing that matters now “FIGHT!" He/she has betrayed you.

Sounds idiotic, childish and totally gaga doesn’t it? We all know it, but it happens over and over again. Merlin’s reactions are nothing special, not at all. He is just an ordinary boy, who is manipulated by his overwhelming emotions. It’s no wonder that he freaks out seeing Morgana immune to the sleeping spell. Okay, it might be a little strange. Every other man would be happy to see his would-be girlfriend being fine and healthy. But `macho´ Merlin is different. He has a destiny after all. It’s not his fault that he expects the worst of Morgana. He is not to blame for freaking out when the relatives of his friend (e.g. Morgause) come for a visit. He has a short fuse. This is nothing spectacular or legendary. Quite the contrary it is just another proof of Merlin’s innocence and charm of a farm boy.

But seriously Merlin, a little jealousy is okay (maybe even cute), but the poisoning was really tough. It reminds me on the phrase: “If I cannot have her no one gets”. Merlin’s typical justification: “...I had no choice. It was Morgana or the rest of Camelot…” is very obvious. It could not even convince Merlin himself. (A/N: I did already mention this incidence in the chapter about Morgana and Morgause.)

It is often said Merlin’s weakness would be to see the good in people…err nope I don’t think so. It is rather fitting to say that his weakness is to see nobody than Arthur. However, the consequences were obvious by destroying his relationship with his would-be girlfriend´ forever, polluting her better nature and sending her irrevocably into Morgause's care.

But this is not even the most tragic thing. Both, Merlin and Morgana had just overcome the first crisis and we all thought (and hoped) they would come out of it strengthened. On the other hand, it’s quite hard to call this `tragic´ considering all the idiocy from both sides. Another example of Mergana’s common mistakes is Morgana’s behavior to eat every lie out of the palm of Morgause’s hand. It’s obviously clear that Merlin poisoned her because of her magic, isn’t it? It reminds me on the relationship between Merlin and Killgharrah. Someone would say something about destiny… Actually, I’m not sure if `destiny´ should refer to the prophecy-stuff of the show or to the everyday issues of two immature and lovely idiots.

**We might be apart, but we can’t keep the hands off each other:**

Well, you might believe that the love story of Mergana has ended after the end of season 2. But no! It’s like in the real world (okay, maybe it’s more like a soap opera) – a never-ending story. Mergana reaches just another level of “they get up they do not get up”.

Merlin on the one side plays the alienated friend, who spies on his ex all of the time. What the hell is about statements like: “…we can find another way…”? Come on Merlin. This is just a stupid cry of desperation.

Morgana on the other side plays a woman, who is very determined to get away from her ex – at least she pretends to be. Nowadays, women tend to burn all their photos in a fire of vodka and hate. Okay, Morgana’s way might seem to be a little drastic, but it’s okay for me. Her bitchy acts of revenge look quite nice, but they do also say a lot about her `not existing´ feelings for Merlin. Her revenge would have been more convincing by betraying Merlin to Uther, but this is something she could not do all of the time.

Another great example of Morgana’s special understanding of ruthless revenge on her ex is the episode `A Servant of Two Masters´ (S04 E06). Merlin is totally at her mercy and every evil witch would just torture and kill her enemy. But what is Morgana doing? She has a nice small talk with him and heals him. I mean Merlin’s tiny scratches were far away from serious or life-threatening. So what was Morgana doing? Some would say she was playing some doctor games. (Hey producers, why were we not allowed to see what happened between them after Merlin fell asleep once again?) Am I the only one, who has issues to see the revenge in this?

But Morgana is not the only one, who is `a little´ manipulated by her emotions after being separated from her friend. Merlin’s pulled her down the stairs, just because his ex was going to visit a relative. Jealous! After that, Merlin is desperately determined to repair the results of his actions.

In summary, it is really hard to find two other `enemies´, who are so eager to be together all of the time.

**A pair, who pretends to be okay with being separated, but is still connected by so many things:**

Granted, Merlin and Morgana are hardly fair and nice to each other since season 3. At the beginning it is a more or less open hostility but it becomes a full-grown “War of Roses”. It is about more than just some broken dishes.

Nowadays, a reasonable pair in such position should sit together and talk it out. Unfortunately, the difference between Mergana and those pairs is not the difference in time. It is the tiny word “reasonable” – not really fitting to describe Mergana. Have our love birdies ever been reasonable? Nope, quite the contrary. Their relationship is an endless cycle of self-made crisis and catastrophes. In this way, it is not surprising that they continue this way, while trying to separate from each other.

Friends and acquaintances get involved into their emotional chaos and are forced to decide for one or the other side. Such things are especially tragic when children get involved. Merlin’s and Morgana’s behavior concerning their (surrogate) children, Mordred and Aithusa, is probably the best promo for the need of couple therapies. “No Aithusa, you have to decide for mommy OR daddy. You are not allowed to visit your other parent. Even more, you have to fight him/her.”

**It does not go together, and not without each other – the tragic and bitter end, which was still so predictable:**

In other words, there is surely nobody who can deny a strange feeling, while recalling the fight between these two deadly enemies.

I might be not the right person to give advices in conducting war, but it is quite obvious that there way is not successful. There are always these half-hearted attacks and the inability/displeasure to actually finish things. There are always these moments where you believe it is finally over, but instead of this the heroes/villain do always get a chance to escape.

Even in the last episode, where Morgana knows the truth about Merlin’s/Emry’s betrayal and imprisons him without his magic in a cave, is an example of this. Why is she not able to kill the one, who is destined to be her doom?

Imagine a TV viewer, who does not know the story and the characters. He/she could believe to see a slightly possessive woman, who wants to protect her lanky friend from the evil in the world. Therefore she makes sure he is safely secured. According to the motto: “I’ll be back soon darling. After that we will have a serious talk about our relationship.”

 

It’s really sad to see that Merlin and Morgana are never able to decide between being friends, lovers, enemies, etc. Therefore it has to end with a tragic separation. This is true for both sides. The Merlin of the last few minutes strongly reminds me on Morgana – broken and bitter. But is this truly the end of the craziest and funniest relationship? The prophecy says: „…he is your destiny and he is your doom…“ Well, the doom-part is quite obvious.

But what is about the destiny-part? Could it be possible that Morgana’s destiny is not fulfilled yet? Maybe there is a sequel for the legendary duo Emrys and Morgan Le Fay? By the way, when has she been Le Fay?

 

At the end, let’s be honest we all are little Merlins and Morganas. For me this is the reason, why everyone can relate with them so easily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, this was the final chapter.
> 
> Actually, I’m quite happy with this special and challenging chapter, although it cannot be sufficient to describe the full extent of Mergana.
> 
> However, I hope you had some funny minutes while reading this fic. I especially enjoyed the discussions with the reviewers and followers. You made me think about other aspects of the characters. This is also a reason why this fic turned out to be `psychoanalysis´ of the characters (especially for the Pendragon family). I like it when the characters and reviewers tell the writer what should happen.
> 
> There will be another fic - my typical style. However, I will follow you and hope we will have some further discussions and speculations. 
> 
> Thank you so much to you. This fic was not only written by me but also by you.


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